<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>House Of Cards by Rocketlover</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27468850">House Of Cards</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocketlover/pseuds/Rocketlover'>Rocketlover</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ER (TV 1994)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cordano, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:42:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>53,720</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27468850</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocketlover/pseuds/Rocketlover</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Two surgeons, both equally in pain. Can they help each other heal? A Cordano story...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Elizabeth Corday/Robert Romano</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Authors note: I found this idea on my laptop whilst working on the next chapter of 'The Philadelphia Stories,' (which is coming), and thought I'd take another go at it. This story takes place at the end of season nines episode, "A Hopeless Wound." Usual disclaimers apply in that the characters are not mine, just merely borrowed.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>With a very sleepy Ella weighing heavily in her arms, Elizabeth headed for the exit. Another long and difficult day was over, but with the minivan in the shop, they now faced the long journey home on the El train. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to be home, to climb into bed and pull the comforter over her head, so she could surrender to the sleep she so desperately craved. She was all but out of the door when she heard him, his voice stopping her dead in her tracks.</p>
<p>"Elizabeth!"</p>
<p>Unwittingly, she froze, closed her eyes, and silently cursed. Not now, she groaned inwardly, I just want to go home...but, there was no avoiding him. She sort of half turned around, trying to not make eye contact and sighed heavily. "Robert, can we talk tomorrow? I really have to get Ella home."</p>
<p>"I thought you might want this before you left," he said, and she turned fully to face him. He'd stopped just short of her and stood still, his right hand proffered out towards her. She looked down and gasped not quite believing her eyes at the shiny object that lay in his open palm.</p>
<p>"That's my ring," she gasped unbelievingly.</p>
<p>He gave a slight shrug of his shoulders. "Amazing what you can do with a laparoscopic camera and a snare," he said. She reached down for the ring and he gave a small wave to Ella, who shyly, snuggled even closer to her mother.</p>
<p>"Thank you," she whispered, staring at it with a mixture of relief and disbelief.</p>
<p>"Di nada," he said quietly and turned away, but promptly turned back. "Err," he began again, awkwardly. "Look err, about today..."</p>
<p>Closing her eyes briefly she recalled the embarrassing scene earlier in the surgeons lounge and knew what was coming. "Err, lets not..."</p>
<p>Robert sought out her eyes and spoke stronger. "It was a momentary weakness on my part..it won't happen again."</p>
<p>Lifting her eyes from the ring, she risked a brief look up at him and was met by his intense eyes. She saw the pleading, sincere apology there, but there was also a darkness, the like she'd never seen before. They were like black holes, threatening to suck you and everything around them into their chaotic universe. She saw just a hint of his tortured pain and it scared her. She still had so much of her own personal grief to deal with right now; she couldn't possibly deal with his too. She hugged Ella even closer to her, the one definite thing in her life that made its continuance worth while. She just didn't have the strength right now to take on more. Call it selfish, call it survival, call it whatever you like...she just couldn't do it.</p>
<p>She felt her lips move and heard the words as they fell from her mouth. "You'll work through this Robert." They rang hollow even to her own ears and she knew he heard it too.</p>
<p>Unable to hide the disappointment in his eyes, he paused for the briefest of moments and swallowed the rejection. "Of course I will," he said. It was a lie and they both knew it.</p>
<p>"Goodnight," he said, his tone clipped.</p>
<p>"Good night," she said, cutting him adrift.</p>
<p>He turned and left and she watched him go, her heart breaking for him, despite her resolution to let him. She hung on to her daughter, focusing on the one being she needed to be strong for.</p>
<p>But then he turned again. Just, briefly...a last desperate plea in his eyes that even he, no longer believed. A finality materialised there, an acceptance that this was indeed his pain, his path, his burden, his fate, his future all to be shouldered by him and him alone, and he got it…he turned back and walked away.</p>
<p>Elizabeth sighed tiredly and turned around too, taking another step towards the exit, but then stopped, and slowly looked back. She watched him as he waited for the elevator with his head down and took a good, long look at him. Watched as the fingers of his right hand drummed rapidly against his thigh. Noted the tight, agitated posture of the slumped shoulders. The air around him seemed almost as blue as the scrubs he wore.</p>
<p>She thought back to earlier that day when she'd found him sitting in the surgeons lounge in the dark, alone and defeated. He'd opened himself up to her and revealed just a fraction of the torment he was going through. She'd knelt before him, tried to offer some words of comfort and he'd reached out to her, both literally and figuratively, but she'd panicked and ran away. She'd left him there, sitting alone in the dark once again, and then she saw it. That chair, that same chair, the one she'd sat in crying as she felt her world was falling apart and he'd found her and caught her. Not only had he caught her, he'd guided her back to Mark, and what had she just done? She'd ran away from him. Twice.</p>
<p>And she couldn't do it. She just couldn't do it. To him, or to herself.</p>
<p>"Robert, wait!" she called out as her feet propelled her back inside towards him.</p>
<p>The elevator doors opened just as she reached him. "Robert!" He turned back to her with a puzzled look.</p>
<p>"What?" he asked.</p>
<p>"How long did it take?"</p>
<p>"How long did what take?" he said with a look of confusion.</p>
<p>She opened her palm which still held her wedding ring and he looked down at her hand. "Wasn't really clock watching," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders.</p>
<p>She thought it must have taken him ages, especially with only one good working arm.</p>
<p>How long? One hour? Two? More? She pictured him struggling for hours trying to retrieve the ring; her ring, her wedding ring..for her. And here she was, unwilling to even give him five minutes? What kind of a person did that make her?</p>
<p>"Look, are you okay?" she started.</p>
<p>"Course I am," he lied.</p>
<p>"Really?" She asked, as Ella began to fidget in her arms. She hugged her closer whispering soothing sounds into the small childs ear and Ella settled down.</p>
<p>Robert watched the tender exchange and wished everything in life could be that simple. Elizabeth brought her face back to look at his and he met her eyes. There was something different there, something that moments before hadn't been there. A clear invitation to give an honest answer to her honest question.</p>
<p>"No," he sighed. "Today has...today has not been a good day."</p>
<p>"Ditto," she said ruefully and he looked up at her with a wry smile.</p>
<p>A silence fell between them and the elevator door closed with a ping causing Robert to look at it briefly. His hand automatically went to push the call button again. "Well, I should let you get the little one home, huh?" He gave Ella another small wave and she gave him a shy smile back.</p>
<p>Ella was growing ever heavier in her arms and suddenly an idea came to her. "Are you off now?"</p>
<p>He nodded. "Yeah. I'm just headed back upstairs to change now."</p>
<p>"Are you still driving?" she asked out of the blue.</p>
<p>Robert looked puzzled. "Uh, yeah…the Jag's automatic, and this thing isn't totally useless, yet," he said lifting his bad arm for effect.</p>
<p>"Look, I'm knackered, and I really don't think I can face the El tonight. Do you think you could give us a ride home? Maybe we could pick up some dinner on the way and when Ella's down, if you like, we can talk properly?"</p>
<p>Robert closed his eyes briefly. "Are you sure?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she said with a confidence that took the pair of them by surprise and startled Ella, who sleepily reached out a curious hand towards the white bandage covering his left forearm. Robert brought his hand up to touch her little one, and his brief smile disappeared as he looked at her.</p>
<p>"What is it?" Elizabeth asked, noticing the change.</p>
<p>"Normally, I would love to," he said, "but the jag is not exactly fitted out for transporting munchkins."</p>
<p>"Oh," she said actually disappointed.</p>
<p>They both looked down at the floor before Robert offered. "I'd be happy to spring for a cab if I get dinner out of it?" he offered.</p>
<p>"Deal," she said, beaming.</p>
<p>"Okay. Give me a minute to change?"</p>
<p>The elevator door opened up once again, and they both looked at it. "Of course. We'll ride up with you, if that's okay?"</p>
<p>He held out his hand and gestured for her to step in, and he followed her. The doors closed and swallowed them.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Ella was very tired they decided to get the taxi straight over to Elizabeth's house and order something in for dinner. The journey over felt a little strained and awkward. Robert had gone quiet, trying to gather his thoughts and was intent on staring out of the window as the city passed them by and Elizabeth quietly hummed to Ella. The driver, assuming they were a married couple who'd maybe just had a fight, obligingly filled the void with a monologue about his beloved Chicago Bears.</p>
<p>They arrived to everyone's relief at the house and Robert paid the driver as Elizabeth got out and started up the steps. He caught her up at the front door as she struggled holding Ella while rummaging in her bag for the key.</p>
<p>"Can I help?" he offered.</p>
<p>She looked at him. "You can take Ella, or root through my bag for the key."</p>
<p>He gave a small smile, deciding which one held less danger. "I think I'll take Ella, if that's okay with you?"</p>
<p>She carefully passed her into the waiting crook of his right arm. Her hands lingered in case he struggled, but she noticed he held Ella's heavy two year old load no problem.</p>
<p>"I got her, don't worry," he said sensing her hesitance. She smiled and turned, rummaging in the depths of her 'mom' bag and eventually withdrew her house keys with a triumphant flourish.</p>
<p>She unlocked the door and nudged it open, smiling with relief as the familiar smell of home greeted her and she stepped forward. She placed her bag and keys on the bureau and turned, surprised to see Robert still standing under the porch.</p>
<p>"Well, are you coming in then?"</p>
<p>He gave a small smile and stepped forward, closing the door behind him. They both looked at each other, feeling awkward by his unusual presence in her home.</p>
<p>"Do you want to order some food if I put her down?" Elizabeth said, breaking the silence.</p>
<p>"Sure," he said, carefully handing Ella back to her mother.</p>
<p>"Right, well the kitchen is through there," she said nudging her head, "and there are some take out menus stuck on the fridge."</p>
<p>He nodded, watching as she turned and began to climb the stairs, then looked briefly around him. He couldn't quite believe he was here in her home and tried to damp down the nervousness he was feeling in his gut. He followed her directions and found the kitchen feeling around for a light switch. It was small in comparison to his and he grinned noting the dirty dishes still stacked in the sink. Locating the menus he pulled them off the side of the fridge. Not sure of what she wanted or liked, he decided to play it safe and opted for pizza, ordering the same type he'd bought for her when she was pregnant. Then at a loss for what else to do, he made tea.</p>
<p>Elizabeth got Ella down to sleep and hesitated outside of the bedroom door. Right now, she wanted nothing more than a hot shower and bed, and she regretted for a moment inviting him and wondered just what the hell she'd got herself into. She could hear him moving about downstairs and decided to delay a little further and grab a shower, trying to rehearse speeches in her head. Towelling herself off afterwards, she felt a little more human and went into her bedroom to get changed. Normally she'd get straight into her pyjamas. Well she certainly wasn't prepared to go downstairs wearing her pj's with Robert Romano in her house. She wanted there to be absolutely no mixed signals and opted for an old pair of Mark's sweat pants and a comfortable sweatshirt. Descending the stairs she found him sat on the couch in the living room. She smiled as she saw two cups of tea sat waiting on the coffee table. "You made tea."</p>
<p>He startled at her voice and turned. "Your powers of observation never fail to impress, Lizzie."</p>
<p>Crossing her arms she raised an eyebrow. "Did you warm the pot first?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Did you warm the pot first?"</p>
<p>"If you're asking if I performed one of your bizarre English tea making rituals, the answer is no. Drink the tea you ingrate," he said reaching for his own cup.</p>
<p>She smiled and glanced at the armchair, but decided to sit down next to him. Reaching for the tea, she took a sip and savoured the warm liquid, before relaxing back into the couch. "Not bad," she said.</p>
<p>Robert rolled his eyes. "Gee thanks."</p>
<p>"So what did you order?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Pizza. Is that okay?" He looked at his watch. "Should be here any minute," he said just as the doorbell rang. They both started to rise and he stayed her with his hand. "I got this. Least I can do." And he went off to the front door.</p>
<p>She got up after him anyhow, and went into the kitchen to retrieve some plates and napkins. Then on reflection, she went back and opened a bottle of wine and grabbed two glasses.</p>
<p>Robert looked up when she entered with the wine. "Classy," he said. "Hope it's a good year?"</p>
<p>"It's a good price."</p>
<p>She made an approving noise when she opened the box. "Ohh, my favourite, good choice. God, I'm actually starving! I don't think I've eaten since breakfast."</p>
<p>"Ah, that's right...porridge."</p>
<p>Her hand stopped, a pizza slice, held mid air. "How on earth do you know that?"</p>
<p>He looked at her and nudged his head at the kitchen. "Saw the dishes in the sink. Sloppy housekeeping Lizzie."</p>
<p>"Oh, piss off, mister judgey..you try juggling a toddler, a career and trying to keep a tidy house."</p>
<p>"I wasn't and wouldn't. I did however load the dishwasher for you."</p>
<p>On familiar ground sniping at each other and actually realising they hadn't eaten all day, they ate the rest of the pizza in comfortable silence.</p>
<p>"You mind if I use the bathroom," Robert asked when he was finished. She gave him directions and cleared the mugs and plates away to the sink, then rolled her eyes as she found herself loading them into the dishwasher.</p>
<p>When he came back she had poured two glasses of wine and was sat waiting for him. She patted the seat next to her and he gave a small smile and sat. She passed him a glass of wine and watched as he took a sip and pulled a face before placing it back down on the table.</p>
<p>"Oh, I'm sorry, is it not up to Sirs usual high standard?"</p>
<p>He snorted. "Good for cooking with maybe. Got any Scotch?"</p>
<p>"No, and what do you know about cooking?"</p>
<p>He cocked an eyebrow. "I cook."</p>
<p>"You do?"</p>
<p>"Look at me Lizzie. I'm a single middle aged, man who lives alone. Do I look like I live on take out, or processed crap?"</p>
<p>"Fair enough," she said and reached for her own glass of wine. She took a sip and tried very hard not to wince. She hated to admit it, but now that he'd mentioned it, the wine was pretty rank. She placed the glass back down on the table and looked at him to find him wearing a knowing smirk.</p>
<p>"Oh, shut up," she said.</p>
<p>"Never said a word."</p>
<p>"No, and on that note..do you feel like talking about today?"</p>
<p>His mood seemed to darken before her very eyes and she could almost see behind his, the cogs turning in his head.</p>
<p>"Can I ask you something first?" he said.</p>
<p>"Of course."</p>
<p>"Why did you ask me here tonight?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow to let her know he knew she'd heard him just fine.</p>
<p>Under his scrutiny, she reached for her glass and turned back to him. "I suppose because you were so clearly upset earlier...you obviously wanted to talk...but then I got paged."</p>
<p>His expression was unreadable and she took a sip of wine, feeling his eyes on her the whole time. She placed the glass back down on the table and met his gaze once more.</p>
<p>"Did you?"</p>
<p>"Did I what?" she asked confused.</p>
<p>"Did you really get paged?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she said, but she could tell he really didn't believe her. "So now, let me ask you, why did you agree to come here tonight?"</p>
<p>"For the fine wine and dining experience."</p>
<p>"Oh for Gods sake, you are such an ass! Look, I invited you here, into my home so that you can tell me what the hell is going on inside that thick skull of yours! It's late and I'm tired so either talk to me or.."</p>
<p>"Or what? Leave?" he said, beginning to stand.</p>
<p>She pulled him back down. "Oh, sit down and stop being an arse Robert! I know exactly what you're doing and I'm not playing!"</p>
<p>"And what is it that I'm doing?"</p>
<p>"You're trying to pick a fight so that you can leave, because God forbid you actually share with someone the fact that you're scared out of your mind!"</p>
<p>Robert bit back his response and neither spoke for a minute as the air seemed to crackle around them with tension.</p>
<p>She tried once again. "Look, I know its out of your comfort zone and not exactly your strongest forté, but Robert, you need to trust me. If you don't, I'm scared you're going to hurt not just yourself, but others too."</p>
<p>"Elizabeth, what do you expect to happen here? If you think I'm going to sit on your couch and boo-hoo like some pre-pubescent who's upset 'N Sync just split, I'm not going to do that."</p>
<p>"Well then, what do you want to do, Robert? I'll ask you again, why did you agree to come here tonight?"</p>
<p>"Because you asked me to."</p>
<p>"Oh for Gods sake!" she said beginning to lose her temper. "It's like talking to a brick wall!"</p>
<p>"Look...I'm sorry," he said. "I'm just..."</p>
<p>"Just what?!"</p>
<p>"I'm just not good at this,' he said waving his hand between them. "I'm not used to talking about 'feelings' and..."</p>
<p>"And what?"</p>
<p>He looked down and began fiddling absently with the bandage covering his left arm. "I'm nervous."</p>
<p>"Nervous? About what?"</p>
<p>"That I'm going to say, or do something stupid and you'll never want anything to do with me ever again," he said so quietly she had to strain to hear.</p>
<p>"Robert." She reached out to stop his hand from fidgeting. "You're miserable...that much is obvious, but right now you're also making me miserable, and believe me I have enough miserable in my life already...but I'm here with you, right now, begging you to talk to me, to tell me what you're feeling and to let me help you, and I promise you, I'm not going anywhere."</p>
<p>He ran a hand over his face and rubbed his eyes before fixing her again with his stare. "Then I guess we should really start with the elephant in the room."</p>
<p>"The what?"</p>
<p>"You know...about earlier…in the lounge," he said and Elizabeth immediately looked away, uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"See that...that, right there is exactly what I don't want. Elizabeth, I don't want you to feel awkward or nervous around me."</p>
<p>She smiled awkwardly and looked back at him.</p>
<p>"Sorry. I don't mean to."</p>
<p>He lifted his hand to cup her cheek just as he had earlier that day and looked her dead in the eye, daring her to break the contact, to push him away. She sat still, watching him back, until in a gentle voice he spoke. "I have no agenda here, and I need you to believe me."</p>
<p>"I'm trying to, Robert, I really am."</p>
<p>She could see the scepticism haunting his eyes, so she reached up her own hand to cover his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Really," she said.</p>
<p>He dipped his eyes and gave the slightest of nods. "Thank you."</p>
<p>Wrapping his thumb around her hand he lowered them both and found her eyes again. "Look, the truth is my life is falling apart, and right now, all I want...all I need..is a friend."</p>
<p>She had to admit a certain amount of relief and squeezed his hand. "I believe you."</p>
<p>He looked down and turned his hand over, allowing his fingers to slip between hers, giving a grateful squeeze, pleased when she reciprocated. Turning his dark eyes back on hers he spoke quietly. "I also don't think I'd be way of base, if I said maybe you could use a friend too?"</p>
<p>"True enough," she chuckled and smiled. "Okay, so we've made progress and have the friends part down at last. So go on then," she nudged. "Tell me what's going on in that big head of yours?"</p>
<p>He leaned back into the couch and closed his eyes, and she watched as he struggled to come up with the right words.</p>
<p>Releasing her hand, he rubbed his face and sighed heavily. Opening his mouth to speak, he rolled his eyes briefly when no noise came forth and instead placed his hand behind his neck, leaning back against it. She watched and waited patiently until after a minute he spoke. "I'm not really sure where to start."</p>
<p>"Well as Julie Andrews once famously coined...why don't you start at the very beginning?"</p>
<p>He looked at her and grinned. "That would have been so much more awesome if you'd sang it."</p>
<p>"Ha-ha, now stop stalling. Tell me what you're feeling."</p>
<p>He closed his eyes once again and then suddenly said, "Did you ever build a house of cards as a kid?"</p>
<p>"A what?" she said trying to keep up with him.</p>
<p>"You know, you take a normal deck of playing cards and you build it up…like into a pyramid? Each card delicately placed, balanced."</p>
<p>She nodded.</p>
<p>"But, then you make a mistake, a wrong move...and it all falls down?"</p>
<p>She nodded, going with him.</p>
<p>"Well, that's me Lizzie...that's the state of my life. I've spent years building my career and I've put it above everything. I built this perfect house of cards so carefully, and then in one night, in one fucking stupid move, it all came falling down….and now I'm left with nothing, and ….I….I can't see how I'm going to get it back," he finished his voice breaking.</p>
<p>She could see tears glistening in his eyes and her heart went out to him. "Oh, Robert, let it go, just let it out."</p>
<p>"I can't," he choked out covering his eyes behind his hand.</p>
<p>Elizabeth sighed and nudged herself closer towards him. Lifting her own fingers to his, gently she pulled his hand away, keeping hold of it as he tried to resist.</p>
<p>"Yes, you can Robert. You clearly need to talk and I want to help you..so please let me help."</p>
<p>He stared at her and opened his mouth to speak just as Ella let out a cry from upstairs, and they both turned their heads to look in that direction.</p>
<p>Elizabeth turned back to him. "Hold that thought, mister," she said rising up. "I'll be back in a minute."</p>
<p>He nodded and watched her disappear up the stairs and glanced at his watch. To his surprise, it was nearing midnight. He got up and moved the awful wine back to the kitchen. When he returned he glanced around the room properly. Nicely decorated in pastel colours he wandered over to the mantelpiece to look at the pictures displayed there. A nice selection showed Ella's short life so far from baby to toddler. A silver framed 10x8 showed Elizabeth gazing lovingly at Mark Greene as he cradled his new baby daughter.</p>
<p>He jumped slightly when Elizabeth suddenly appeared next to him and saw what he was looking at.</p>
<p>"Sorry," he said. "Wasn't snooping I promise."</p>
<p>"It's fine Robert."</p>
<p>"Nice picture," he said. "Mark looks like the proudest daddy ever."</p>
<p>She gazed fondly at the image. "He does doesn't he? That was the first time he ever held her."</p>
<p>Robert tried to sneak a sideways look at her hoping he hadn't managed to stir up painful memories, but she caught him looking.</p>
<p>"You know, just because Mark's gone people are terrified of even mentioning his name around me." She turned back to the picture. "Thank you for not being one of them."</p>
<p>He nodded. "So is Ella okay?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Oh, she's fine; just cried out in her sleep. So, where were we?"</p>
<p>He smiled. "It's late and I should go."</p>
<p>"Robert," she said reproachfully.</p>
<p>"No really, we're both on tomorrow, and you said yourself you were tired," he said tapping his watch for good measure. "I should call a cab."</p>
<p>She regarded him. He looked knackered, like he'd been through the wringer and she had to admit herself, she was exhausted.</p>
<p>"Okay," she relented. "But well, why don't you just crash here tonight?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Why not? Why sit round waiting for a cab when there's a perfectly good guest bedroom here?"</p>
<p>"I, err, I….wouldn't want to impose."</p>
<p>"You wouldn't be imposing," she said amused by his stammering reaction.</p>
<p>"I can't."</p>
<p>"Why not?"</p>
<p>"Honestly?"</p>
<p>"Always."</p>
<p>"I got nothing," he admitted.</p>
<p>"Look Robert, I think we know each other well enough now, to know that I wouldn't offer if I didn't want you to."</p>
<p>He nodded and smiled at her gratefully. "Well, okay then. If you're sure?"</p>
<p>She nodded. "Good, and now that that's settled, in the morning you can spring for another cab for Ella and I."</p>
<p>"Ahh, I now see the method in your madness," he smiled.</p>
<p>"C'mon, I'll show you where the guest room is."</p>
<p>He followed her up the stairs until they reached the guest room. "So, this is you," she said when they reached the room. "There's a bathroom through that door and, I'm just across the hallway if you need anything."</p>
<p>"Thanks, but I'm all good."</p>
<p>"Okay. Well, good night then."</p>
<p>"Good night, Lizzie...and thank you."</p>
<p>She cupped his cheek in her hand and he closed his eyes leaning into her touch. She leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his other cheek before leaving him there.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Her mothers ear, always primed to hear her daughters cries even in her sleep, woke her up. Only these cries were not her daughters, and Elizabeth was momentarily confused. Then she remembered Robert was across the hallway, sleeping in her guest room, and realised that the noises must be his. She quickly climbed out off bed and grabbed her robe.</p>
<p>Turning on the hallway light, she opened the door carefully and slipped inside the room. The hallway illuminated his shape just enough for her to see him writhing about, covered in a sheen of sweat, moaning incoherently. She went towards him just as he let out another cry; a cry, the like of which, she'd never heard before, nor ever wanted to ever hear again. "Robert?" she said, sitting down as gently as she could next to him. She placed a hand lightly on his shoulder, hoping not to startle him, but her touch seemed to have no impact whatsoever. She tried a heavier touch, and when that too, failed she shook him a little. "Robert…Robert, wake up...you need to wake up."</p>
<p>She continued to call his name and shake him until his eyes opened wide, and she found herself staring into fear stricken eyes. She started back a little, as suddenly he gasped for breath and sat upright, his right hand gripping his left arm where it had been severed by the helicopter blade. His eyes were glazed over, and his breathing becoming frantic. Worried he was going to hyper-ventilate, she pulled him gently towards her and wrapped her arms around him. "Shhh, it's okay, Robert," she said soothingly. "You need to breathe slowly….in and out, in and out." She let her hands draw reassuring circles over his back and shoulders, whilst she continued to whisper like a mantra 'in and out, in and out,' into his ear, breathing with him until at last he calmed and she felt him come back to her.</p>
<p>Robert's eyes slowly focused and he looked around at his strange surroundings. "Lizzie?"</p>
<p>"I'm right here. You were having a nightmare."</p>
<p>"Oh," he mumbled allowing himself to lean back into her warmth. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"</p>
<p>"I'm here aren't I?" she chuckled.</p>
<p>"Sorry," he groaned. "God, that's embarrassing. I didn't wake Ella up too, did I?"</p>
<p>"No, don't worry, she's out like a light," she said, slightly disarmed that he would even think of her. "And Robert, there's absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about."</p>
<p>When he didn't reply, she gently asked him. "I'm guessing its not your first?"</p>
<p>He shook his head against her shoulder. "No," he admitted. "Most nights, I'm lucky if I don't get one."</p>
<p>"What do you do? How do you handle it?"</p>
<p>"I just normally get up. Watch T.V or go for a walk."</p>
<p>"Right, well its the middle of the night, and Ella is fast asleep so neither of them is really going to work. What else?"</p>
<p>"Uhh, I dunno."</p>
<p>"How about a hot drink? Some tea? I have camomile?"</p>
<p>He pulled a face but she couldn't see it, so he said, "Maybe, some water?"</p>
<p>She smiled kindly and squeezed his hand. "Okay. I'll be right back."</p>
<p>She left to go get the water and when she returned Robert was laid back down, on his right side, a pillow beside him supporting his left arm. He sat up as she entered, and took the glass from her. He took a few tentative sips, and she noted that his hand was shaking slightly. He handed it back to her and laid down again. She looked at him lying there, vulnerable and exhausted, and her heart went out to him. Her eyes drifted to his left arm where the scar seemed to flame, angry and red. A deep bruise was forming around it and she remembered his earlier painful collision with Lily in the E.R. She knew it had really hurt him by his reaction at the time, but to see just how much, as it spread over his arm really drove home just how much pain the man was in, both physically and mentally.</p>
<p>"Any better?" she asked.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and gave just the slightest shake of his head. "Not really."</p>
<p>"Do you want to talk about it?"</p>
<p>Robert just shook his head and she watched him withdraw into himself. She thought back to when she'd first heard about his accident. She was of course horrified, but she'd never actually given thought to the true horror of what it must have actually been like. He was clearly reliving that awful night, over and over again every time he slept.</p>
<p>"Have you ever spoken to anybody about the accident?"</p>
<p>He shook his head again, but looked at her.</p>
<p>"Do you think that maybe you should?"</p>
<p>His expression turned stony but she continued. "Maybe you should think about seeing a counsellor? Talking about it with a professional could help?"</p>
<p>"No," he snapped, then immediately cursed himself for his harsh tone.</p>
<p>"Oh," she said, and placed the glass on the bedside table.</p>
<p>He watched her movements carefully and sat up, reaching out a hand to hers. "Lizzie, I'm sorry...I just can't right now."</p>
<p>"It's okay," she said, but he felt the need to at least try and explain considering how good she'd been.</p>
<p>"It's just...the dream, the nightmare...it's so real...the sound is real, the smell is real and the pain...the pain is real," he said his voice hitching, his breathing quickening. "Its too much for me right now." He closed his eyes and swallowed.</p>
<p>She could hear the distress in his voice and squeezed his hand understanding. "It's okay, Robert." She sat down beside him keeping hold of his hand. "But, at least tell me what I can do. What will help?"</p>
<p>He opened his eyes relieved that she wasn't going to push him further and locked his gaze with hers. "Stay with me?" He asked in a voice so soft, she wasn't even sure it was his. "Please?"</p>
<p>His dark eyes pleaded with her blue ones and she saw him, as she'd never seen him before, utterly exposed and vulnerable. She noted his clothes lay neatly folded on the dresser. "Are you at least decent under there?" she asked, lifting the corner of the comforter a little.</p>
<p>He gave a small chuckle. "Do boxers count?"</p>
<p>She smiled and stood up, removing her dressing gown. "I guess they'll have to. Okay, scoot over," she said lifting the quilt as she slid under it.</p>
<p>He watched her gratefully, and obligingly shuffled over to give her more space. Elizabeth carefully removed the pillow supporting his left arm and gently lay it across her stomach.</p>
<p>"Is that better?" she asked.</p>
<p>He smiled sheepishly and nodded, watching her every move, but saying nothing. She could see the gratitude shining brightly in his eyes, threatening to spill over, and lifted her hand to gently cup his cheek. He closed his eyes, feeling himself relaxing into her touch and she let her thumb trace small circles up until she met the moisture that pooled in the corner of his eye. "We'll get you through this, Robert. I promise," she said and gently wiped it away.</p>
<p>He dared not open his eyes, for fear of falling apart, and he relaxed further as her hand slipped down to the base of his neck, caressing, calming and soothing him all at once. "Lizzie," he sighed.</p>
<p>"Yeah?"</p>
<p>"Thank you."</p>
<p>She touched her forehead to his. "You're welcome….now go to sleep."</p>
<p>8888888888</p>
<p>The painful throbbing in his arm after yesterdays collision in the trauma room, woke him early. Elizabeth lay fast asleep beside him, which he battled to get his head around; he couldn't believe how great she had been. He tried not to move so as not to disturb her but the pain in his arm was becoming too much to bear and he couldn't help but fidget and he felt her stirring.</p>
<p>"Hey," she said groggily.</p>
<p>"Sorry, did I wake you?"</p>
<p>"It's no problem. Are you okay?" she asked, reaching for the bedside lamp. Blinking, she turned back to look at him.</p>
<p>He brought his right hand up to shield his eyes at the sudden onslaught of light, and thought about toughing it out. As his eyes adjusted to the light he saw her concerned expression and considering he was more or less, already laid out bare, he allowed his features to reflect what he was feeling.</p>
<p>"You're in pain?"</p>
<p>He nodded slightly. "It's my arm. I banged it pretty bad yesterday."</p>
<p>"I remember. Can I get you something? I've got Advil in the cabinet?"</p>
<p>Right now he'd take anything. He nodded gratefully, and she climbed out off bed to get him the pills.</p>
<p>"What time is it?" he asked when she returned, sitting up, accepting the proffered pills with a drink of water. He swallowed them.</p>
<p>"Just after half past six."</p>
<p>"What time are you on?"</p>
<p>"Eight. You?"</p>
<p>"Same," he said, but he didn't really feel up to it. "Actually, I think I might just call in sick. My arm's really sore and I think I'm just going to go home."</p>
<p>She gave him the once over and agreed he did look tired, but she didn't like the defeated tone in his voice. "No, Robert, come in with me. Why not go and see Doctor Gunn, and have him take another look at your arm? Then take an admin day. You could even do some of my paperwork if you like?" she said cheekily.</p>
<p>"Lizzie, every day is an admin day these days," he said quietly, looking down and she could sense the melancholy coming off of him in droves.</p>
<p>"Well, I really don't like the idea of you sitting home alone all day, brooding...it's not healthy. Plus we could get lunch together? Please?"</p>
<p>He had to admit, touching base with Gunn after yesterdays mishap was probably a good idea, but lunch with Lizzie cemented it. He looked up and gave a small smile.</p>
<p>"So, you'll come in then?"</p>
<p>He nodded gratefully.</p>
<p>"Good," she said. "And on that note I guess we should start moving. I'm going to go and get Ella ready...there should be some clean towels in there," she said, nodding in the direction of the bathroom.</p>
<p>"Okay," he said. "Is Ella in day-care or is your babysitter coming?"</p>
<p>"She's in day-care all week….Kris is off for a few days."</p>
<p>"Oh," he said. When she made no move to leave he grinned. "Well, unless you want to see even more of me, you should go."</p>
<p>She shook her head and laughed, happy to hear him more like his old self. "Consider me gone," she said and left.</p>
<p>By the time she descended the stairs with Ella in her arms, her nostrils were assailed by a glorious smell. She walked into the kitchen to be greeted by the sight of Robert stood by the stove.</p>
<p>"Made yourself at home, I see."</p>
<p>He turned and gave her a sheepish smile, that revealed dimples she'd never really noticed before.</p>
<p>"Thought it was the least I could do, considering. There's fresh coffee in the pot, and eggs and toast on the way. As for the munchkin, I'm not really up to speed, so I mashed up some banana. I remember that's what my niece enjoyed around that age."</p>
<p>"Actually, that's just about spot on," she said, impressed. "I didn't know you had a niece. Where is your family?"</p>
<p>"Overseas," he said succinctly and she got the feeling not to press further. Instead, she filed the information away for later.</p>
<p>Elizabeth put Ella down in her high chair, then sat down and set about feeding her, and he placed a cup of coffee next to her, already creamed and sugared the way she liked it, she noted.</p>
<p>Just as she was finished with Ella, he served her a plate of scrambled eggs on toast, which she promptly tucked into.</p>
<p>He sat down opposite her with his own coffee and watched her eat. "Whoa there, Lizzie, you might want to slow down."</p>
<p>She swallowed a mouthful of eggs and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Sorry, but these are really good."</p>
<p>"I'm surprised you can even taste them. Christ, my dog has better table manners!"</p>
<p>"Ha-ha," she said and shovelled another forkful into her mouth. She looked across and noticed he wasn't eating. "Where's yours?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I'm not really hungry."</p>
<p>"Robert, you need to eat something."</p>
<p>"Roasted java is all I need," he said taking a long slurp of coffee for effect.</p>
<p>She gave him a disapproving look and got up. Walking past him to the cabinet she retuned with another plate and cutlery. He watched as she pushed half the contents from her plate onto it and set it down in front of him.</p>
<p>He raised his eyebrow and smirked. "Still, not hungry."</p>
<p>She crossed her arms and scowled. "Robert."</p>
<p>"Yeees."</p>
<p>"Eat."</p>
<p>"Wobbuh Eet," Ella piped up trying to sound out the syllables like her mother had, and banged her sippy cup on the high chair for effect.</p>
<p>Robert laughed and nodded. "Okay Ella, but only 'cause you ask so nice." He picked up the fork and speared some eggs into his mouth. Ella beamed back at him and clapped her hands together.</p>
<p>He looked up at Elizabeth who still stood by him. "Happy now?"</p>
<p>"I will be when you finish it."</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes, but started eating. "Good boy," she said patting him playfully on his cheek before sitting back down.</p>
<p>"Gud boy," Ella copied, and they both smiled at her.</p>
<p>"So, you still have that big hound of yours, then?"</p>
<p>"Yes, and her name is Gretel."</p>
<p>"Gret-el," Ella said and Robert smiled at her again.</p>
<p>"Should we go by yours to feed her or something?"</p>
<p>Robert finished his coffee and shook his head. "No, its fine. Don't laugh, but I have a dog sitter called Diane. She comes by twice a day and feeds and walks her...with the hours we keep I can't guarantee getting home and its not fair on Gretel."</p>
<p>"Sounds perfectly plausible actually," she said and carried on eating.</p>
<p>"Elizabeth?"</p>
<p>"Hmm?" she said, taking a bite of toast.</p>
<p>"Look, erm about last night. I wanted to say thank you."</p>
<p>She looked up at him. "You already did, Robert.'</p>
<p>"Yeah, I know...but, you know, me being here… it must all be very weird and I kind of sprung all of this on you...and I really want you to know that I'm very, very grateful."</p>
<p>"Robert, it's fine...really."</p>
<p>"Please, just hear me out. I don't want you to be worried, or for us to have any crossed wires."</p>
<p>She reached across the table and took his hand. "I'm not, and I don't."</p>
<p>"So, we're okay?"</p>
<p>She gave him a smile that took his breath away. "I would say we are actually more okay than we have ever been...wouldn't you?"</p>
<p>He smiled at her and dipped his head. "I guess."</p>
<p>They finished the rest of the meal in affable silence.</p>
<p>Afterwards Robert cleaned up the kitchen while Elizabeth gathered Ella's things together. A car horn heralded the arrival of their cab, and when Ella lifted up her arms to Robert, he bent down and obliged as she scrambled up into his hold, and wrapped a chubby arm around his neck.</p>
<p>"She likes you," Elizabeth said.</p>
<p>"She's a smart kid," he said and headed out towards the waiting cab.</p>
<p>88888</p>
<p>The door to Robert's office flung open, and he looked up to see a very tired and frazzled looking Elizabeth enter.</p>
<p>"I know, I know," she gushed apologetically as he glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>She glanced around quickly until her eyes landed on their intended target. Ella lay napping on the couch. She noted the open colouring books and crayons that lay sprawled out around her and wondered briefly where they'd come from.</p>
<p>He watched as she all but collapsed beside Ella as carefully as she could, trying not to disturb her. Leaning back into the couch, she absently played with Ella's hair, closed her eyes and yawned.</p>
<p>From the moment she'd dropped Ella off with day-care she'd not stopped. A multiple pile up had kept her in surgery all day, and she'd not had time to drink a coffee, never mind get away for lunch.</p>
<p>When day-care had called through to the O.R saying she needed to collect Ella, she was hands deep in her next patient, a young man who'd managed to get himself shot while attempting to rob a store. With Kris out of town for a few days, she'd had Shirley call several of her friends...none were available to help. As a last ditch attempt she'd asked to be put through to Robert's office. She remembered with embarrassment, the looks on Shirley and the others' faces as a clearly unhappy Romano reluctantly agreed to collect Ella and watch her until she could get out.</p>
<p>As Shirley had replaced the intercom phone, Elizabeth could clearly see the amused glint shining brightly in her eyes and knew she was smirking behind the mask. "Not one damn word!" Elizabeth had muttered before anyone could.</p>
<p>He watched as she took what was probably her first moment of peace since starting work. She ran a hand over her tired eyes then seemed to remember where she was. "God, that was a long day," she sighed. "I'm so sorry about ducking out on our lunch date, but I just couldn't get away."</p>
<p>"No need to apologise. Its not like I don't know the drill."</p>
<p>"Thank you so much for getting Ella for me. I really hated to put you in that situation, but I was desperate."</p>
<p>"Gee, thanks."</p>
<p>"I didn't mean it like that."</p>
<p>He held his hand up. "It's okay, Elizabeth, I'd be my last choice too, but I'm actually happy you felt you could ask. So, have you eaten anything since this morning?" he asked, changing the subject.</p>
<p>She shook her head and Robert got up from behind his desk.</p>
<p>"Figured they'd suck you into their vortex," he said carrying a paper bag with him. She cracked open an eye as he waved a sandwich under her nose. She sat up straight and snatched it from his hand tucking straight in.</p>
<p>He grinned as he watched her tear the wrapper off the sandwich and take a huge bite.</p>
<p>"Did you flunk finishing school or were your parents too tight to cough up for it?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth swallowed and stuck her tongue out at him.</p>
<p>"Charming," he quipped.</p>
<p>She took another large bite and looked around at the mess of crayons and open colouring books. "Where did all this come from?" she asked.</p>
<p>"Same place Ella came from."</p>
<p>"Oh? That was nice of them. Did you have any problems getting her?"</p>
<p>He smirked and shook his head.</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes at him. "Please tell me you were nice?"</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Fine. Please tell me you were at least polite."</p>
<p>"When am I ever not polite?" he said with mock innocence and reached back inside the paper bag, pulling out a can of soda. He waved it in front of her and she reached up and took it.</p>
<p>"Did you see Gunn?" she asked, noting his arm was immobilised and back in a sling.</p>
<p>He nodded.</p>
<p>"What did he say?"</p>
<p>"Exactly what I knew he would...rest it and take a painkiller."</p>
<p>"Well that's good."</p>
<p>"How is that good?"</p>
<p>"Because that's all he said, so no further damage done."</p>
<p>"That's one way to look at it."</p>
<p>"Its the only way to look at it," she said breezily. "You have to start thinking positively, Robert."</p>
<p>"Easy for you to say," he grumbled.</p>
<p>"What's that?" she said between bites of tuna mayonnaise.</p>
<p>"Nothing. I take it, you are all done saving people for the day?"</p>
<p>She nodded. "Absolutely. I just want to go home, have a bath and sleep."</p>
<p>"So you can do it all again tomorrow," he said ruefully.</p>
<p>She looked at him. "Is it the surgery you miss the most?"</p>
<p>"Yes," he said quietly. "I miss the thrill, call it what you will. I miss the sense of achievement, knowing that you've saved someone's life...that you've made a difference. I miss the knowledge that I've done something that no-one else could, and I miss...I miss working with you."</p>
<p>She smiled at him. "We did do great work together."</p>
<p>He smiled sadly.</p>
<p>"And we will again, Robert, I promise."</p>
<p>"Don't do that."</p>
<p>"Do what?"</p>
<p>"Don't make me promises you can't keep."</p>
<p>She placed the soda can on the table and reached out for his hand. "I'm sorry," she said.</p>
<p>"Don't be. Just be honest."</p>
<p>She looked up into his eyes and nodded. "That, I can do," she said and squeezed his hand.</p>
<p>"One other thing..."</p>
<p>"Yes?"</p>
<p>He looked ever so slightly awkward and she found it oddly charming. "Could you...maybe, help keep me grounded?"</p>
<p>She grinned at him. "You want me to keep Robert Rocket Romano grounded? Didn't you just make me promise not to make promises I can't keep?"</p>
<p>"Touché," he said returning the grin. "How about you try and keep me grounded to the best of your ability?"</p>
<p>"Challenge accepted," she said squeezing his hand just as Ella stirred, and rubbed her bleary eyes.</p>
<p>"Do you want to come back to mine again tonight?"</p>
<p>There was in fact nothing more in the world that he wanted, but instead he shook his head. "Thanks, but I don't want to leave Gretel for another night."</p>
<p>"Oh," she said, surprised by her own disappointment.</p>
<p>"I can however drop you two ladies home."</p>
<p>"Really?" she asked, brightened at the thought of escaping the EL once again. "I thought your precious jag wasn't child friendly?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "My new best friend at day-care loaned me a car seat."</p>
<p>"But, they don't have car seats to loan?"</p>
<p>"They do now."</p>
<p>"But how?"</p>
<p>He released her hand and pointed at his name badge, still grinning. "Chief...Of...Staff."</p>
<p>"But...oh, never mind." She smiled at him, shaking her head bemused, and wondered just what kind of reception she would get tomorrow morning when she dropped her daughter off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Robert Romano sat watching a ridiculous big blue bear singing a song about the moon, and wondered briefly how he had got here. He glanced at his watch. The big game was at least four innings in and he wanted to change the channel, but his young viewing partner would most definitely go into meltdown if he did. It wouldn't be pretty and he knew from experience he'd lose. The damn bear was not doing its lullaby-baby job well enough, and he reckoned Ella had six more episodes in her, easy. Christ, at this rate he'd be asleep before she was.</p>
<p>After his successful stint at watching Ella, he'd been recruited by Elizabeth to help out the rest of the week that Kris was off. Grateful as hell for the company, he'd readily accepted, happy to spend more time with the pair of them. They were a good distraction he'd felt. He'd brought Gretel along one night much to Ella's delight who decided she was a good pony substitute. The resulting upturned table, broken vase, crying child and sulking dog were enough for him to realise he needed to think things through more. He'd arranged for Diane to take Gretel for the rest of the week, taken Ella shopping and bribed her with a new dolly, then bought Elizabeth a bouquet of flowers that conveniently came arranged in a similar looking vase. Elizabeth had been none the wiser as she came home to a hot meal, a happy sleeping child and a beautiful, 'I just wanted to say thank you, so I bought you these,' flowers.</p>
<p>That week had passed well and led to more shared dinners and general hanging out together, and much to their surprise, they had become good friends, enjoying each others company. He probably spent three or four nights a week at hers, always in the guest-room, but after she'd heard him mid-nightmare one time too many, she'd begun sharing the bed with him so that she was on-hand when he had an 'episode.' He certainly wasn't going to quibble and to be honest he felt much better about going to sleep, knowing he wasn't going to wake up terrified and alone.</p>
<p>That was four months ago now. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year had been and gone, and yet here he still was. It seemed to work. She was taking his request to keep him grounded very seriously, and had become pivotal in his rehab, stopping him from overdoing it in his frustration to heal. She'd actually accompanied him to see Doctor Gunn and his physio, and they had come up with several exercises she could help with, flexing his fingers. Doctor Gunn was much happier with his overall progress. The only unhappy one, was Robert. His recovery was, in his opinion, still too slow and nowhere near enough where he wanted it to be.</p>
<p>Add to that his work life continued to deteriorate as he'd recently been forced, under pressure from the board, to allow Elizabeth to take on his duties as Chief Of Surgery in his 'medical absence.' As a consequence, he'd found himself more and more office bound, and it was driving him nuts. Somehow, he'd become a day worker, working 9-5 office hours. The only bonus was that it enabled him to reliably relieve Kris on time for Ella-sitting duties, which pleased Elizabeth, and more importantly stopped him brooding too much on the sad state of his life. Spending time with Elizabeth and Ella had made him think more and more about his own family.</p>
<p>His own blind ambition and on off relationship with his sister had stopped him from being too closely involved with his niece's upbringing. A fact he was only now beginning to realise just how much he regretted. His mother had died last year, having never really recovered from a stroke the previous year and he hadn't seen his sister since the funeral. They'd had a disagreement at the wake, which was mainly instigated by him. Robert had harboured some resentment and anger that Tess had not returned from California to help out when their mother had fallen ill, and it had all come to a head at the wake. They'd argued, both said some things they shouldn't have and hadn't spoken since. That was until recently, when he'd finally called at New Year. He'd told her about his 'accident,' and she'd been shocked and angry that he hadn't told her earlier. They'd called a truce and he'd promised to visit soon, assuring her that he was doing fine, and wasn't alone. She'd been curious about Elizabeth and was keen to meet her.</p>
<p>He shifted slightly next to Ella and began trying to flex his fingers. Ella turned her head ever so slightly towards the movement, and formed her small hand into a fist before resting it in his palm. She looked up at him and they exchanged a smile as he continued to try flexing his fingers, this time trying to close his hand around her small one, squeezing it like a stress ball. Robert tried not to laugh as Ella, just as she'd seen her mother do so many times, nodded approvingly at his efforts. He wondered again at his extraordinary good luck that placed him here, and gratefully returned his attention to the dancing bear.</p>
<p>8888888888</p>
<p>Elizabeth pushed her front door open and kicked off her shoes. Exhausted, she threw her keys down on the dresser and dropped her bag, heading straight for the lounge where she could see flickering light, probably from the television.</p>
<p>She couldn't help but smile at the sight that greeted her. Robert was fast asleep on the couch with Ella flat out beside him. The Bear in the Big Blue House was prancing about on the screen and she knew Ella had won yet another battle in their war of the wills. Robert Romano, who was very good at saying 'no' to just about anyone, herself included, was as malleable as a marshmallow when it came to her daughter.</p>
<p>Wandering into the kitchen she opened the fridge, pleased to see a plate of lasagne next to a green salad awaiting her. She popped the lasagne into the microwave and dressed the salad before spotting an open bottle of red wine with a post-it-note stuck to the bottle. It read 'Romano approved' scribbled on it. She grinned, happily acquiescing to his wine picks and poured herself a generous glass while she waited for the food to heat. She took an approving sip as the microwave beeped and she took the meal and the glass of wine to the centre island and sat. Savouring the first bite, she revelled in the flavours and marvelled at the complexities of Robert Romano. He really was an amazing cook, a skill she would never have credited him with, and knew no-one would believe her if she tried to tell anyone. She giggled a little at that and mused back to that fateful evening when she had invited him to her house to talk. He'd become rather integral in her life since then, helping out with Ella, but also helping herself with her struggles against loneliness. The weight of responsibility she'd felt as a single parent, no longer weighed quite so heavily around her neck, and for that she felt very grateful towards him.</p>
<p>What on earth would people think if they knew just how much time they now spent together.</p>
<p>Would it bother her? Maybe. Once upon a time it most definitely would have bothered her, but they were both different people now, and both were happy with the status quo of their relationship. It was all innocent enough, and they were both okay with that. Would anyone believe it though? She sipped a little more wine and glanced briefly towards the lounge. She wasn't ashamed of their friendship, but she was worried that if people found out just how close they'd become, then people would automatically assume there was more going on...and she didn't want people feeling that she could just simply move on from Mark, just like that, and with Romano of all people. But then, no-one knew Robert like she did. How could they? He'd never let anyone into his life like he had her. They had no clue as to how much he cared about medicine, about helping people. They had no idea of the pain he put himself through everyday with his physio, constantly pushing himself. They had no idea how good he was with Ella or how funny he could be; how easily he could cheer her up with a quip or a well timed pout. He had the ability to see humour in the darkest of situations, and she'd grown to trust him, to value him and not that she'd care to admit, but also to care for him, and what's more, it was absolutely nothing to be ashamed about.</p>
<p>She finished her dinner and got up to place the plate into the sink, then smiled as she envisioned Robert's disapproving shake of the head and put it into the dishwasher instead. Next she went into the lounge and carefully collected her daughter into her arms and carried her upstairs. After putting her to bed she climbed into the shower. Dressed in pyjamas she went back downstairs to the kitchen. She reclaimed the bottle of wine and grabbed two glasses, then walked through to the lounge and sat down, heavily. Robert stirred as she filled the glasses and wiped his eyes blearily.</p>
<p>"Sorry," she lied. "Didn't mean to wake you."</p>
<p>"S'okay," he yawned and looked around for his sleeping partner in crime.</p>
<p>She smiled, knowingly. "I relocated Ella to her bedroom."</p>
<p>"Oh," he said, sheepishly. "Sorry, I meant to take her up, but she was all y'know, 'just one more, pur-lease."</p>
<p>Elizabeth laughed. "Robert, you really do have to learn to say no to her!"</p>
<p>"I do say no to her, but she ignores me...and that's down to you."</p>
<p>"Oh really?" she said raising a bemused eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Absolutely."</p>
<p>Elizabeth crossed her arms and smirked.</p>
<p>"Please do enlighten me, Robert...how is your total inability to control Ella, my fault?"</p>
<p>"Well, you set such a poor example when it comes to listening to me and she takes your lead," he grinned. "As a result, she's very pushy and doesn't listen to me."</p>
<p>"Oh, I listen to you just fine...when you have something useful to say. Which admittedly, is not often."</p>
<p>"Ouch," he said and reached for a glass of wine. "Anyhow, cheers and sorry."</p>
<p>She raised he own glass and clinked it with his. "Cheers, and what are you sorry for?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Sleeping on the job?"</p>
<p>She waved a hand at him and smiled. "Don't be, it's just what I needed after the day I've had."</p>
<p>"What, to come home to chaos?"</p>
<p>"No, to come home to normality. To be able to see Ella happy and well fed with someone she adores. To have a lovely meal waiting for me, and to be able to put her to bed and not have to face yet another evening on my own." She lifted the glass to her lips and took a long drink of wine and he watched as her smile faded. She leaned back into the couch, tucked her feet up beneath her legs and closed her eyes.</p>
<p>"Rough day?" He asked, tentatively.</p>
<p>She gave a slight shrug of her shoulders in response. "I've had better."</p>
<p>"Wanna share it?"</p>
<p>The levity of moments ago seemed to vanish as she sighed heavily. "If its all the same, I think I'd just rather sit here and relax."</p>
<p>Robert watched quietly as she sipped her wine. He knew her well enough now to know her moods, as she did his, and he also knew she wouldn't let him get away that.</p>
<p>"C'mon Corday...bore me with the details," he said, and jabbed her playfully in the ribs.</p>
<p>She shot him a reproachful look, but couldn't help but smile when he responded with a pouty face. Knowing he wasn't going to let it drop, she closed her eyes again, took another sip of wine and breathed in deeply. "I lost a patient."</p>
<p>Okay, he thought, not nice, but unfortunately also not unusual in their line of work, and he raised a questioning eyebrow. "And?"</p>
<p>"And what? I just told you."</p>
<p>Robert had seen Elizabeth lose patients before. He'd witnessed her deal with it with a level of professionalism and separation. You had to in their line of work, or you wouldn't be able to function. There was clearly more here going on than simply losing a patient.</p>
<p>"So why has losing this particular patient, upset you Elizabeth?"</p>
<p>She opened her eyes to find his concerned ones staring back at her, and watched as he took the glass from her and placed it down on the coffee table, before turning his scrutiny back on her.</p>
<p>"He was a married man, and a doting father by all counts," she said, quietly.</p>
<p>Robert considered her words and chewed down on his lip, and ventured. "He reminded you of Mark?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she admitted, tears beginning to glisten in her eyes, and he waited patiently for her to elaborate.</p>
<p>"He was blind-sided by another car that ran the lights and really didn't stand a chance. His wife kept asking me what is she supposed to do now, while his daughter just kept calling out for her daddy, and all I had was, 'you carry on!'"</p>
<p>Robert considered her words and took a sip of wine himself. "There's really not much more you could have said, Elizabeth."</p>
<p>"I know," she said sadly.</p>
<p>"So then…?"</p>
<p>"It just got me thinking, you know? What will I say to Ella when she asks me, Robert? What do I tell her when she asks where her daddy is?"</p>
<p>He put his own glass of wine down on the table and reached for her hand. "You show her all of the pictures that you have of him and you tell her how you met. You tell her how much he loved her...and...you tell her how much he loved you. You tell her that he was a good man."</p>
<p>"Thank you, Robert," she said crying. "I'm sorry...it's just been a bit of an emotional day."</p>
<p>"Hey, come here." He pulled her to him and wrapped his arm around her. She let her head rest gratefully on his shoulder and felt herself relax against him. They sat like that for a while, neither speaking until Robert broke the silence.</p>
<p>"You really miss him, don't you?"</p>
<p>She nodded against his shoulder. "There are days when I miss him dreadfully, and then there are days when I realise I've gone a whole week without thinking of him...and its those days I feel horrible and guilty."</p>
<p>"Well, you shouldn't...it just means you're beginning to heal. It doesn't mean that you're forgetting him, or that you loved him any less."</p>
<p>"I know..."</p>
<p>Robert raised his eyebrow. "Do you though?"</p>
<p>She nodded. "I do...really, I do...but, I just feel like I need to hang on to him, you know? For Ella's sake. I feel like every day that I don't think of him is another day where I'm going to forget just another little detail about him...until I can no longer close my eyes and see him. Ella's too young to remember him, so I have to be the one who doesn't...so that when she is old enough to understand and wants answers to her questions, I can tell her."</p>
<p>"And you will. Look around you, Elizabeth. He's over there," he said nudging his head in the direction of the mantelpiece, where there were several framed pictures of Mark, some with Ella and some of all of them together. "And, correct me if I'm wrong, but that pyjama top you're wearing looks suspiciously 'Greeneish' to me?"</p>
<p>She turned her head and smiled up at him. "It was his favourite."</p>
<p>He smiled back at her. "See? He's not forgotten. He's actually everywhere...and in time, Ella will see that."</p>
<p>"Thank you Robert. I'm really glad we became proper friends," she said leaning her head back against his shoulder.</p>
<p>He smiled, pleased that he had managed to cheer her up and happy to hear confirmation that they had forged a real connection. "Me too," he said. "And look, whenever you want to talk about Mark, you can y'know? If you want to tell me you miss him, if you want to tell me what you miss the most, you can."</p>
<p>She nodded again and he felt the movement. "Actually, I miss this, the most," she said.</p>
<p>Robert looked around him confused. "What's this?" he asked.</p>
<p>She allowed her head to snuggle against his shoulder, then said quietly, "Companionship."</p>
<p>"Companionship?"</p>
<p>"Yes, you know...coming home from work to someone; Eating a meal and sharing your day with someone other than a toddler."</p>
<p>"Oh," he said.</p>
<p>"Not the answer you thought?"</p>
<p>"I figured you'd miss Mark...the man."</p>
<p>She giggled. "You mean sex?"</p>
<p>He shrugged and nodded.</p>
<p>"Don't get me wrong, Robert. I loved Mark, but well, you know yourself we'd drifted apart before he fell ill. I still loved him, but we hadn't been intimate for quite some time...and then he got ill and you helped me see that I still loved him and needed to be there for him at the end. He was my husband and I loved him very much...but when he died...he wasn't my lover. Does that make sense?"</p>
<p>"I guess."</p>
<p>"Can I tell you what else I really miss?"</p>
<p>"What?" Robert asked, a little hesitantly.</p>
<p>"Head massages," she said and nudged his right hand that lay on her shoulder.</p>
<p>He let out a breath he'd been unaware he was holding and grinned. "Wow, Lizzie...how very subtle of you."</p>
<p>"Shut up and rub," she said, snuggling closer to him while draping her arm across his stomach.</p>
<p>He smiled and let his hand drift up and disappear into the mass of curls that he adored.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter and some dialogue take place over season nine episodes, 'No Good Deed Goes Unpunished' and 'No Strings Attached.'</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Elizabeth hurried from Recovery, wondering just what the hell Robert thought he was doing. She'd been paged by Shirley and learned that Robert was supervising a surgery, that was going south very quickly. She still didn't believe it, but then she met Shirley outside of O.R 1, and there he was, through the glass, scrubbed in and assisting. She nodded her thanks to Shirley, who looked at her with clear relief evident in her eyes. Lifting a surgical mask to cover her face, she pushed inside to hear Robert chastising the unfortunate resident.</p>
<p>"Move any slower Jensen, and this guy's gonna heal before we can sew him up."</p>
<p>"Giving one of your inspirational speeches Robert?" she said, announcing her presence.</p>
<p>He looked up, surprised to see her there. "Elizabeth? I thought you were doing an atrial caval shunt? Another lap to me? I take it he died?"</p>
<p>"On the contrary, I'm finished. The patient's in recovery. I heard you were having some difficulty though," she said, careful to keep her tone neutral.</p>
<p>His eyes flicked on her ever so briefly. "You were misinformed," he said.</p>
<p>"Apparently." She tried a different tack, seeing as he was obviously not going to accept her olive branch of help. "I didn't realise you were back on surgical rotation?"</p>
<p>"Just assisting Jensen," he almost sang. She knew bravado, when she heard it, especially when it came to him.</p>
<p>"So, errr, how are we doing, Jensen?"</p>
<p>Jensen looked at her, clearly nervous, and feeling caught between a rock and a hard place. "Fine, thank you. Good hemostasis, no leak," he said, obviously opting to follow Romano's lead.</p>
<p>"The posterior cutaneous nerve runs next to the artery," she said. "It's easy to cut both."</p>
<p>"And the head bones connected to the, what again?" Robert said, in a mocking voice.</p>
<p>'Enough', she thought, beginning to lose patience and leaned in closer to Jensen. She lowered her voice and asked. "Would you like me to scrub in to check?"</p>
<p>Jensen didn't get the chance to reply though, as Robert did it for him. "No."</p>
<p>She fixed him with a death stare. "It would be such a shame for this young man to come in for an abscess and go home with a dropped foot from a severed sciatic nerve!" she snapped.</p>
<p>"You're right," he snapped back, throwing a bloodied gauze down into an instrument pan. "Look I just thought of a way you can help me." He locked his eyes with hers, his expression stony. "Leave!"</p>
<p>She shook her head at him, and then did just that.</p>
<p>88888888</p>
<p>Robert walked into Post Op Recovery to find Elizabeth checking on his patient.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" he demanded.</p>
<p>"Your Resident asked for a curbside," she said, keeping her voice as neutral as she could in the busy room, despite her anger. She jotted down her observations and looked up to catch him staring at her. His posture screamed nonchalance, but the twitch of his hand betrayed him.</p>
<p>"And?"</p>
<p>She stepped a little closer and lowered her voice. "There's an area of sensory loss on the posterior aspect of the thigh."</p>
<p>Robert bit on his lower lip and sighed. "Jensen bagged the posterior femoral cutaneous."</p>
<p>"But there's no foot drop. Sciatic, tibial and peroneal are completely intact, although he'll probably be left with some numbness in his thigh."</p>
<p>"Well, I guess he got lucky then," he said, and gave a small smile.</p>
<p>"Yes he did," Elizabeth replied, making it quite clear who she was referring to.</p>
<p>Robert scowled at her, turned around and left. He walked past Shirley and asked if she had seen Jensen.</p>
<p>"He said he was going up to the roof," she called after him.</p>
<p>"For a patient?"</p>
<p>"To jump…"</p>
<p>Robert shook his head and made his way up to the roof. When he stepped out from the elevator he spotted Jensen looking out, over the edge of the roof. "Don't do it Jensen...my car's down there!"</p>
<p>Jensen turned towards him as he approached, and Robert felt a tinge of guilt at how miserable the kid looked. "Your patient's going to be fine. The leg should be fully functional."</p>
<p>"There was nerve damage."</p>
<p>"Yeah, but it was minimal. Hey, you'll do better next time."</p>
<p>Jensen's face hardened. "You're right. Because I won't go into surgery with you," he said, then stalked past Romano heading for the elevator. Rocket Romano would never let a resident get away with speaking to him like that, but then he realised Rocket Romano was gone. As if to prove the point, a helicopter suddenly hovered above, its mechanical roar deafening, and its lights blinding him. Mocking him, temporarily stripping him of yet more of his senses.</p>
<p>And then just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone. He turned and walked to the side of the roof, climbed onto the step and looked down, over the ledge. 'I'm never going to perform surgery again,' he thought. He reached up and pulled the scrub cap from his head and stared at it, and all it represented. And then just like that, he let it go and watched as it fell, spiralling on the wind, heading towards the ground until he could no longer see it. He felt crushed, humiliated and overwhelmingly sad. Hope had sustained him throughout his recovery, but he realised all was lost after today. His recovery, his life, his prospects were all headed in the same direction of that cap. The thought crossed his mind ever so briefly to follow it, and he stepped away from the ledge. He stood there for a few more minutes, the sensible part of him knowing he should go and find Elizabeth and apologise to her, whilst every other fibre told him to go find the nearest bar.</p>
<p>8888</p>
<p>A flustered Elizabeth left Susan and Abby in the E.R to make her way back upstairs, but before she made it there, she found herself paged straight back down for another consult. Fifteen wasted minutes later, she stepped back onto the surgical floor. She needed to find Robert and went straight to his office. He wasn't there so she asked Shirley for his whereabouts, and was told to 'try the roof'. Not finding him there either, she tried his office again, and then had him paged. Nothing. She called his phone, and it went straight to message. Nearing exasperation, she drove to his house and hammered on his front door. It was getting late, but the house was in total darkness, even though she could hear Gretel's excited, protective barks from within. If he was inside, he was clearly not going to open the door to her. Having exhausted every option she had no choice but to give up her search and return home to relieve Kris. If Robert was that upset with her and wanted to be alone that much, then there really wasn't much she could do about it. She just hoped he didn't do anything else stupid.</p>
<p>With all the extra running about, she got home later than planned, and was annoyed, but not surprised to learn Ella was already asleep. Kris beat a hasty retreat sensing the bad mood and left her to it. Elizabeth showered, poured herself a generous glass of wine and proceeded to channel surf getting angrier and angrier as each button push of the T.V remote, produced no distraction whatsoever. She tried calling him again, and left yet another message. How dare he go AWOL like this. He must know how much she'd be worried. What on earth had gotten into him today to make him so reckless, so irresponsible...and then to go and do a disappearing act. He was so selfish! Angry and frustrated, she downed the wine, locked up the house and went to bed.</p>
<p>8888888888888</p>
<p>Two day's later, Robert stood seething, barely keeping it together, as Kerry Weaver was presented to the press as the new medical liaison to Cook County's Public Health Care Administration. The role he was perfect for, but had been completely overlooked on. He saw the Alderman's hand hovering over the small of Kerry's back and wondered just what the hell was going on. Sex was obviously off the cards, so what exactly were these two getting out of this newfound power relationship. Something was going on and he was going to make it his business to find out. As the photographers rushed forward to get their publicity shots, Robert rolled his eyes and turned to quietly leave. He was nearly out of the door when he heard his name being called and turned around to identify the source.</p>
<p>"Doctor Romano?"</p>
<p>A small, dark haired woman stood before him, her hand outstretched, and he automatically reached out his own to shake it. "I'm sorry, have we met?" he said, not recognising her.</p>
<p>She shook her head. "We've never been formally introduced, but I'm Pattie Cohen with the Chicago Tribune."</p>
<p>"What can I do for you, Ms Cohen?"</p>
<p>"I wondered how your arm is healing?"</p>
<p>"What the hell's that got to do with you?" he snapped, and she held up a conciliatory hand.</p>
<p>"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Look, I'll come clean with you...I would very much like to write a piece about how you."</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Your story is amazing. The fact that you're still working, despite your injury...it's inspirational."</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"No?"</p>
<p>"You heard."</p>
<p>"Doctor Romano, don't be too hasty...our readers would love to hear your story."</p>
<p>"Are you deaf?"</p>
<p>"Look, sorry, I am aware that it's still a painful subject for you, but please don't dismiss the idea out of hand."</p>
<p>Robert couldn't believe his ears. "Are you shitting me?!"</p>
<p>The young woman looked horrified, as she realised her unintentional pun. "Oh God, I am sooo sorry. I promise you, I was NOT trying to be funny. Let me give you my card," she said, reaching inside her pocket. Her hand came out empty and she cursed before reaching into her bag and produced a piece of paper which she hurriedly wrote her details on. "Here's my number. At least have a think about it. If you change your mind or have any questions, you can reach me there." She thrust the paper at him and fled the room. Robert took one final look at Kerry basking in the flash-light of the media circus and left himself.</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>After yet another, excruciatingly long day, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief as she signed the last piece of paperwork and handed the file back to Shirley. "Right, well that's me then. I have the day off tomorrow, so please don't even think about paging me for love nor money."</p>
<p>Shirley nodded and crossed her heart, and Elizabeth smiled at her. "Thank you," she said, turning to leave.</p>
<p>"Doctor Corday," Shirley started, a little uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"Yes?"</p>
<p>"I wondered if you had spoken with Doctor Romano today?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth immediately felt her back stiffen. Robert hadn't answered any of her many messages, nor made any attempt to seek her out since their 'conversation' in the Recovery room. If he wanted distance, then distance was what he was going to get. She glared at Shirley. "No."</p>
<p>"It's just that he looked upset earlier...after he'd spoken with Doctor Anspaugh."</p>
<p>Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm not his keeper, Shirley."</p>
<p>A little taken aback by her tone, Shirley looked around her. Lowering her voice she said, "No, but I was under the impression you're his friend?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth almost felt like she was being chastised. "I try to be, but right now he's not making it very easy."</p>
<p>"He's had a really rough couple of days."</p>
<p>"Haven't we all?"</p>
<p>"We haven't all been removed from surgery!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shot her a dark look. "What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"Doctor Anspaugh has banned him from any procedure that he's physically not capable of doing."</p>
<p>"That's not news."</p>
<p>"No, but it also now includes no supervising of Residents and no consultations….Doctor Anspaugh actually kicked him out of a consult in the E.R this morning...in front of everyone."</p>
<p>Elizabeth sighed and closed her eyes picturing how well that would have gone down. "What did he do?"</p>
<p>"What could he do? I believe he kicked a trash can."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled sadly. "Do you know where he is?"</p>
<p>Shirley gave her a grateful smile. "Try the roof."</p>
<p>888888</p>
<p>She found him stood staring over the edge of the roof, his entire body language screaming defeat. Still, what he had done with Jensen was downright, bloody irresponsible and she wasn't convinced he was even able to see it.</p>
<p>She stepped off the elevator and walked towards him. "Shirley said I'd find you up here," she said not wanting to startle him as she walked up beside him.</p>
<p>He didn't acknowledge her, but a stiffening of the shoulders told her he'd heard her well enough. She stepped up next to him and crossed her arms shivering slightly as the wind lapped around them. He continued to stare straight ahead, making absolutely no effort.</p>
<p>"Hey," she said and nudged him with her shoulder, causing him to sigh.</p>
<p>"What do you want Elizabeth?"</p>
<p>"Well for one, I would appreciate it, if you would stop ignoring me!" she said.</p>
<p>He glanced up at her, then slowly shrugged out off his lab coat. Turning towards her he wrapped it around her shoulders and she gratefully accepted the additional layer of protection from the wind.</p>
<p>"Thank you," she said. "And then, I think I'd like an apology and an explanation for your behaviour the last few days."</p>
<p>He looked at her with tired, red eyes then turned his head away again, to stare at something, or nothing, but definitely anything but her.</p>
<p>"Robert, have you any idea how worried sick I've been about you? You can't just do a disappearing act like that. Do you even care?!"</p>
<p>When he gave her no reaction she threw her hands up in the air and lost her temper. "No, of course you don't!" she yelled. "Because the only person Robert Romano cares about is Robert Romano! You don't give a damn that I've been worried sick about you, or that Ella's upset and confused that suddenly you're nowhere to be seen! It's not fair on her Robert, and its bloody well not fair on me!"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I just figured you were busy with Dorsett, and didn't want to cramp your style."</p>
<p>"What on earth on you talking about?" she spluttered.</p>
<p>"I know he asked you out."</p>
<p>"What?!"</p>
<p>"Don't deny it. I went looking for you the other night to apologise and overheard Abby telling everyone that he'd asked you out."</p>
<p>"Well, then you must have also heard that I very firmly turned him down!"</p>
<p>He turned his head back towards her, taken aback. "Err, no. I, errr...didn't, really stick around."</p>
<p>"Evidently," she said. "Robert please don't tell me the reason you've been a complete jackass the last few days is because you were jealous another man asked me out!" She turned to leave but he caught her hand, and she spun to look at him. "Let me go!"</p>
<p>"Elizabeth, don't go...please."</p>
<p>She exhaled heavily. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't!"</p>
<p>"Because I need you!"</p>
<p>"Well, if you need me so much, why have you spent the last few days pushing me away?!"</p>
<p>"Trust me, you wouldn't have wanted me around."</p>
<p>She'd guessed as much. "Been on a pity party bender, have we?"</p>
<p>He gave her the saddest of smiles and her anger dissipated.</p>
<p>"Look, I'm sorry Elizabeth. You're right, I should have at the very least called you. Is Ella okay?"</p>
<p>She gave him the smallest of smiles as the Robert she knew began to re-emerge. "She will be, but you need to talk to me, because until I understand what's going on in your head, you're not going anywhere near her."</p>
<p>He nodded. "I promise I'll make it up to her...and to you, if you'll let me."</p>
<p>"And I'm putting you on notice Robert, if you EVER pull a stunt like this again, you will not get another chance! Do you understand?"</p>
<p>He nodded again. "Where is Ella?"</p>
<p>"She's at home with Kris, so you had bloody well better start talking to me."</p>
<p>Robert turned around and leaned back against the ledge. He rubbed his face and then looked at her. "Did you know that Donald threw me out of a surgical consult this morning in front of the whole friggin E.R?"</p>
<p>"Yes, Shirley just told me…"</p>
<p>He laughed mirthlessly. "Hah, I guess everyone's having a really good laugh at my expense."</p>
<p>"No-one is doing that, Robert. She told me because she was worried about you, and you have her to thank for me being here...she basically made me come up here to talk to you, and I'm glad she did. Look, you've been an arse Robert and despite all that, you still have people looking out for you. When will you realise that?"</p>
<p>He had the grace to look abashedly down at his feet.</p>
<p>"But you also can't blame Donald after the stunt you pulled with Jensen. You must see how it looks!"</p>
<p>"I know, I know" he sighed defeatedly. "I would've probably fired myself by now."</p>
<p>"So, what on earth is going on in your head to have made you think that it was a good idea. And then to not ask for help, or to even take it when it was offered?!"</p>
<p>He looked back down at his feet. "I had this idea that I was still a surgeon," he said softly, and then looked up at her. "Turns out I'm not any more."</p>
<p>This sad admission sucked any remaining anger from her, and her heart went out to him. She felt tears threatening to fall on his behalf.</p>
<p>"Did you also know that I actually begged Donald, to keep me on the schedule even in name only. That's what I've been reduced to, Elizabeth! Begging! I've been kicked out of surgery and that's it, it's over it's finished, I'm finished! I am officially no longer a surgeon!"</p>
<p>"Maybe," she said. "But you're still a doctor and you're still the Chief of Staff."</p>
<p>"Oh whoopy fucking do!"</p>
<p>"Robert!"</p>
<p>"Anyhow, I'm probably going to lose that too! Weaver's probably going to take that from me soon!"</p>
<p>"Don't be paranoid Robert. Kerry's got enough on her plate right now with this new liaison role."</p>
<p>"I'm not being paranoid, Lizzie. She's always wanted the position and if she gets to shaft me in the process, then all the better. I'm not exactly popular with the Board right now, either. They don't know what to do with me! Hell, I don't know what to do with me."</p>
<p>"Then maybe, instead of doing their job for them, you should perhaps stop handing them opportunities to get rid of you?"</p>
<p>Robert ran his hand over his head. "To be honest, I'm not sure if I even want the job any more, but then, I don't really see a line of people wanting to offer the gimpy armed, ex-surgeon a job."</p>
<p>"Then you have to do better, Robert! You have to prove them wrong! Where did Rocket Romano go? The man who convinced me to come to America was better than this!"</p>
<p>"That man no longer exists, Elizabeth!"</p>
<p>"Why? Because you can't do surgery? You are more than that Robert. Don't let it define you! There's so much more you can do."</p>
<p>"I don't know if I can!"</p>
<p>"Don't give up, Robert. Keep up with the P.T, and keep working hard...Doctor Gunn was pleased with your progress."</p>
<p>Robert looked down at his left hand and tried to flex his fingers. "I thought so too….and then a few days ago I dropped a cup of coffee."</p>
<p>"What?" she said, a little confused.</p>
<p>"I was in the lounge talking to Gallant whilst making a cup of coffee...smart kid that one, by the way...and, well basically I dropped the cup. It slipped right out of my hand and the first thing I knew about it was when it smashed all over the floor!"</p>
<p>"Wait. A few days ago? Are you telling me you risked a young man's mobility over a spilt cup of coffee?" she said, incredulous.</p>
<p>"Lizzie, don't you get it? I'm losing what sensation I have." He breathed in quietly and closed his eyes and she watched as he struggled to keep himself together. "It's not going to get any better...it's only going to get worse!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth reached for him and wrapped her arms around him, and he gratefully buried his face against her. "I just want my arm back, Lizzie...I want to be able to feel whole again! I want to be able to feel."</p>
<p>She let her hand trace down his arm to where she knew the scar was, and let her fingers dance lightly around it, feeling the unevenness of the wound.</p>
<p>"Can you feel that?"</p>
<p>She felt him nod.</p>
<p>"Good." She let her fingers drift further down, this time tracing a line with her fingernails.</p>
<p>"Can you feel that?"</p>
<p>Again, a nod.</p>
<p>She stepped back just a little and looked down as he lifted his eyes up to meet hers. She slipped her fingers in between his and gently brought their joined hands up. She kissed the back of his left hand.</p>
<p>"Can you feel that?"</p>
<p>Robert wished to hell he could feel it and she could tell instantly she'd said the wrong thing.</p>
<p>"Give me your other hand," she said quickly.</p>
<p>He obliged and she squeezed both of his hands with hers.</p>
<p>"Can you feel that?"</p>
<p>He smiled sadly. "That's cheating, Corday."</p>
<p>"No, its not. You know exactly how it should feel, and should you ever doubt it, then you just have to use your right hand to remind yourself." She could see the scepticism in his eyes, so she opened his right hand and placed it, open palmed, over her chest. "Can you feel that?"</p>
<p>Robert's breath left him as he felt her heart beating beneath his hand. Equally he became aware of his own heartbeat thumping loud, and resonating in his ears, and all he could do was nod.</p>
<p>She moved his hand again and placed it against her cheek. "And that?" Unable to speak, he nodded again.</p>
<p>Then she brought his hand to her lips and kissed it. "Now, I know you can feel that," she said and smiled. "Don't ever tell me you can't feel, Robert, because you can feel just as well as anyone else...you just have to remember that there are only ever solutions."</p>
<p>He freed his right hand and cupped her cheek, pulling her down towards him and touched his forehead to hers. "Thank you," he said quietly.</p>
<p>"You're welcome."</p>
<p>He released her face and moved both of his arms around her and held on to her as tightly as he could not wanting to let her go.</p>
<p>She brought her own up and pulled him in too, drawing warmth and comfort from him. She wasn't sure how long they stood like that, but eventually she whispered against his ear. "Robert?"</p>
<p>"Hmm?"</p>
<p>"Do you think we could go home now? I'm freezing."</p>
<p>8888888</p>
<p>Elizabeth enjoyed a luxurious soak in the bath while Robert began his penance reading Ella an extra long bedtime story. She'd been so excited to see him, she was now desperate to stay awake as long as possible. As a result, Elizabeth was already curled up and relaxed on the couch waiting for him to come downstairs. She looked again at the piece of paper she'd found in the pocket of his lab coat and wondered who Pattie Cohen was. Why did he have her number in his coat? Was it someone he'd picked up in a bar whilst he was out on his 'bender'? Was it really any of her business? It's not like they were involved in a romantic sense. Still, it bothered her and she didn't really know why. She heard him coming down the stairs and quickly threw it down on the coffee table as he sat down beside her. She smiled at him as he sat down. "How many did you have to read?"</p>
<p>"Seven! That's a new record. She definitely inherited your stubborn streak."</p>
<p>Elizabeth beamed proudly. "My girl."</p>
<p>"That for me?" Robert said, reaching for the cup of tea she'd made for him.</p>
<p>She nodded and waited for him to take a sip before speaking. "So first thing tomorrow morning, I was thinking we'll go see Dunn about this latest development with your hand."</p>
<p>Robert shook his head and replaced the cup on the table. "There's no point."</p>
<p>"Robert," she said, disappointed and he cut her off.</p>
<p>"No, I went to see him straight after I dropped the coffee."</p>
<p>"And?"</p>
<p>Robert shrugged and leaned back into the couch. "He basically said suck it up and be grateful I still have an arm."</p>
<p>Elizabeth put her own teacup down and sat up. "He said what?!"</p>
<p>Robert rubbed his cheek and sighed. "Maybe, he's right."</p>
<p>"No, he is not," she said. "Okay, new plan. First thing tomorrow, we're going to find you a new doctor, and we're going to get you a second opinion."</p>
<p>He made to open his mouth and she cut him off. "I mean it. I'm not giving up and neither are you. If they concur with Dunn's assessment, then fine, but until we hear it straight from the best specialist in the fields mouth, we absolutely do not give up."</p>
<p>Robert smiled at her. "I don't deserve you."</p>
<p>"True," she smirked.</p>
<p>He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Seriously though, Lizzie. Thank you for putting up with me. I know I can be a real jerk, but I honestly don't know what I'd do without you."</p>
<p>She smiled at him and he reached for the teapot. "You want a top up?" he asked, leaning forward to pour more tea. As he reached for the teapot he saw a familiar looking piece of paper and picked it up.</p>
<p>"Where'd you get this?" he said, turning to Elizabeth.</p>
<p>"I found it in the pocket of your lab coat," she said trying to sound casual.</p>
<p>"Oh," he said, absently rubbing the paper over and over in his fingers, remembering the somewhat surreal conversation that morning.</p>
<p>Elizabeth watched him and wondered briefly what was going on as he seemed to drift of somewhere.</p>
<p>"Who is she?" she asked, trying not to sound too curious. He turned back to her wearing a grin and she wasn't convinced she'd succeeded from the look on his face.</p>
<p>Robert tried to curtail his grin. He knew he was probably wrong, but for a moment he could have sworn there was a little hint of jealously in her voice.</p>
<p>"Sit back Lizzie, you're gonna find this one hilarious."</p>
<p>Elizabeth did just that and settled herself, then raised an expectant eyebrow.</p>
<p>"She's a journalist," he started to say.</p>
<p>"A journalist? Robert, why do have a journalist's number?"</p>
<p>"Stop interrupting me, and I'll tell you."</p>
<p>Elizabeth waved her hand at him to proceed.</p>
<p>"So this morning after the press conference, I'm just about to leave and this woman sort of ambushed me..."</p>
<p>"Why? What did she want?"</p>
<p>"Listening ears, Lizzie!"</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and he continued. "Anyhow, she asks how I'm doing and then tells me her readers would love to hear all about my miserable life.."</p>
<p>"She did not say that!"</p>
<p>"Okay, she actually said something about people finding inspiration, blah-blah...you get the gist."</p>
<p>"What did you tell her?"</p>
<p>"What do you think? I told her to take a hike."</p>
<p>"Hmmm," she said.</p>
<p>He narrowed his eyes at her. "What does, 'hmmm' mean?"</p>
<p>"Hmm?"</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes. "What's going on in that head of yours? What are you thinking?"</p>
<p>She smiled at him. "I'm thinking you should give her a call, and arrange a meeting."</p>
<p>"S'cuse me?"</p>
<p>"Hear me out," she said. "Earlier, on the roof...were you really worried that they're trying to oust you from Chief Of Staff, or was that just noise?"</p>
<p>Robert shook his head. 'It's not just noise. Weaver is making some very influential friends."</p>
<p>"Okay," she said and leaned forward. "So we need to fight fire with fire."</p>
<p>"What does that mean? And how does me giving an interview help?"</p>
<p>"It helps, Robert, because she's going to write a human interest story about you. She's going to write about a dedicated doctor; a surgeon who, at the top of his game, is horrifically injured whilst doing his job. She's going to write that this surgeon is a determined little bugger, who..."</p>
<p>"She's not writing little."</p>
<p>"Shut up and listen. She's going to write that this determined surgeon is fighting daily to regain his strength and mobility so that he can continue to practice medicine...not surgery, because he is realistic in how much mobility he can achieve, but because his is a Doctor and penultimately, that is what he loves to do. He wants to continue to practice medicine so that he can continue to help people. Now, think of the positive spin that said publicity will generate for you and the hospital. Imagine how hard it would be for the Board to then remove that heroic Doctor…"</p>
<p>He grinned, seeing where she was going with this. "Definitely keeping the heroic bit…"</p>
<p>She smiled back at him. "And imagine how bad it would it look, if that very same hospital in which he was injured, was to then fire our very heroic Doctor from what is, essentially an administrative position...one that he was doing just fine, and with no complaints before and after his 'accident'."</p>
<p>Robert laughed. "That's actually genius, Lizzie! I think I may be rubbing off on you."</p>
<p>She laughed too. "Yes, I rather think maybe you are! So what do you think? Will you do it? It would buy you the time to figure things out without you having to look over your back everyday."</p>
<p>He looked at the paper again and nodded. "I'll call her tomorrow and set up a meeting."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This chapter, is based on the episode 'The Advocate.' Season 9,ep 17</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Heeey Doctor Romano, can I get your autograph?" Chuny said, grinning as he walked towards the E.R front desk. She was flanked by Frank, Susan, Abby and Haleh, who were all sporting similar smiles.</p>
<p>"What?' he said.</p>
<p>Frank waved a copy of the newspaper article about him and cleared his throat. "Now, this part in particular is my favourite! 'Doctor Romano, is a man who sees only challenges, instead of limits, and is an inspiration to us all. County General is lucky to have him!!"</p>
<p>"Never a truer word said, and don't you forget it!" Robert said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing.</p>
<p>"Did you write this yourself?" Susan asked, shaking her head laughing.</p>
<p>"Yeah, and if not, how much did you pay them?"</p>
<p>"Ohhh, say something inspirational!"</p>
<p>"How about get back to work or you're all fired?" he said, in a sing-song voice.</p>
<p>"Oh, boooh," Susan called out and the cry was picked up and chorused by the others.</p>
<p>Remembering he was supposed to be winning hearts and minds, he dug out his wallet and produced a fifty dollar bill. "How much inspiration does this buy me? Coffee and doughnuts are on me!"</p>
<p>The booing switched to cheering and Chuny leaned over and swiped the money out of his hand, just in case he was joking.</p>
<p>"What's going on here?" Kerry shouted, hobbling around the corner. She frowned when she saw Robert and scowled at the others when their laughter did not immediately stop.</p>
<p>"What are you doing down here, Robert?"</p>
<p>"Tut-tut Kerry, don't tell me you haven't read your memo's?"</p>
<p>The pained expression on her face told him that she hadn't, and he smirked. "Well, allow me to enlighten you. Seeing as you very kindly facilitated our new budget without a single cut...I am curious as to how you managed that by the way. What was it? Sacrificial goat or did you have to trade your soul for favours?"</p>
<p>She opened her mouth to speak and he waved a dismissive hand. "Bah, who really cares? Not me. Anyhow the upshot is, that I as Chief of Staff, get to decide how the money is spent."</p>
<p>"That still doesn't explain what you're doing down here?"</p>
<p>"Well Kerry, if you'd taken the time to read your memos, you would have known that I am spending the day down here, shadowing Haleh...who as Head E.R nurse, did read her memo, and I imagine is all primed with her Christmas wish list?" He looked at Haleh for confirmation and she nodded, hugging her clipboard to her chest. "Oh yeah!" she grinned.</p>
<p>"I don't understand," Kerry said.</p>
<p>"Not much to understand. I've decided to spend time with all Department Heads, from janitorial upwards, to see how the troops feel their budget could be better utilised."</p>
<p>Kerry nearly spat out her coffee. "As Chief of the E.R, I am responsible for putting in budget requests! That includes the E.R nursing budget!"</p>
<p>"Not any more. Donald thinks its an excellent idea...in fact he called it 'inspiring'...now, where else have I heard that word today? Oh, that's right!" He grabbed the paper out of Frank's hands. "Excellent article in the Trib today...have you read it?" He slapped the paper down on the desk in front of her. "It's Pulitzer stuff! Right then, lots to do...are we ready, Haleh?"</p>
<p>Haleh didn't bother hiding her smirk. "Yes Doctor Romano."</p>
<p>"Lead the way, then," he said gesturing with his arm.</p>
<p>Kerry glanced down at the paper and felt her eyes widen. She looked back up and watched them walk away, and then looked at everyone else, only to find them all grinning, watching her.</p>
<p>She scooped up the paper and tucked it under her arm. "Get back to work," she snapped, and turned around to walk away. As she rounded the corner she stopped briefly as she heard their laughter start up again.</p>
<p>8888888888888888</p>
<p>"Dinners nearly ready," Robert said as he handed Elizabeth a glass of wine.</p>
<p>"Good, because it smells fantastic," she said, and smiled up at him from where she sat on the floor playing with Ella. He stood over her, grinning like the cat that got the cream.</p>
<p>"You're in a good mood."</p>
<p>"Yeah, well, I've had a pretty good day."</p>
<p>"I'm not surprised. Pattie certainly did paint you in a good light. Shirley's getting the article laminated and put in the scrub room."</p>
<p>"That wasn't the only good news I had today."</p>
<p>"Oh?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. I got a call back from Doctor Symons' office."</p>
<p>Elizabeth looked up sharply, and put the glass down on the table. This was the second opinion and really the only one that mattered. Symons was based in L.A, and was the best in his field. To get an appointment would be brilliant news. "Why didn't you say earlier! Well, what did they say?"</p>
<p>"They want to see me next week."</p>
<p>She smiled widely, stood up and threw her arms around him. "Robert, that's wonderful news!"</p>
<p>He smiled against her neck, enjoying the embrace. "Think you can get time off to come with me?"</p>
<p>"You want me to go with you?" she said surprised.</p>
<p>"Of course," he said, surprised by her surprise. "And Ella too."</p>
<p>"To Los Angeles?"</p>
<p>Robert nodded and pulled back a bit so he could see her face. "Yeah. Unless, you don't want to?"</p>
<p>"No, of course I want to. I just wasn't sure if it was something you'd want to do by yourself."</p>
<p>"Why would I want to do it without you? Let's be honest, I probably wouldn't even be here Lizzie, if it wasn't for you."</p>
<p>She smiled, and hugged him tighter.</p>
<p>"I was also thinking maybe afterwards, we could stop by my sisters?"</p>
<p>Now it was her turn to pull away so she could see his face. "Ahh, now I see the real reason you want us to go...you want me to act as a buffer."</p>
<p>"Not true."</p>
<p>She smirked and raised her eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Okay, maybe a little true, but I thought you wanted to meet her? You're the one who's been nagging me since new year, pluuus, I still have to make it up to Ella. Think she'd like to go to Disneyland?"</p>
<p>The smile that graced her face seemed to stretch from ear to ear, and made him feel a little giddy. "Oh Robert, like she doesn't worship you already!"</p>
<p>"Is that a yes, then?"</p>
<p>"Look, I can't promise to get the time off, but I'm certainly going to try."</p>
<p>Robert nodded. "Good enough. I better go check on dinner."</p>
<p>She smiled and watched him go before sitting back down with Ella, who handed her a crayon. "Two Romano's at the same time Ella? What has mummy got us into?" she said, then committed herself to colouring in. A few minutes later a knock at the door made Elizabeth look up again. Robert heard it too, and popped his head out from the kitchen.</p>
<p>"Whoever it is, get rid of them...dinners just about ready," he said as Elizabeth walked past him towards the front door.</p>
<p>She was of the same opinion as she reached for the handle, but when she opened the door, she wasn't prepared to see a cold looking, Susan Lewis standing there, hugging herself.</p>
<p>"Susan?!" she exclaimed loudly, in surprise.</p>
<p>"Hey Elizabeth. Sorry to just doorstop you like this, but I kinda need to talk to someone."</p>
<p>Elizabeth glanced back to the kitchen, then took one look at her friend and opened the door wider. "Well, you'd better come in then."</p>
<p>"Thanks," Susan said. "It's getting pretty hairy out there."</p>
<p>"Here, let me take your coat," Elizabeth offered, holding out her hand.</p>
<p>"Thanks," Susan said and started to shrug out of it.</p>
<p>"I should probably warn you..." Elizabeth started to say, but stopped as Susan's head whipped up suddenly and sniffed the air.</p>
<p>"Ohhh, something smells good! Oh my God, are you actually cooking? How do you even have the energy to do that?!"</p>
<p>"She doesn't."</p>
<p>Susan spun around at the familiar voice, surprised to see Romano smirking at her. He looked very much at home, with a tea-towel casually thrown over his shoulder and a glass of wine in his hand.</p>
<p>"Evening, Lewis," he said, trying hard not to laugh at her shocked expression. "Shouldn't you be half way to Vegas by now, instead of trying to catch flies with your mouth?"</p>
<p>"Erm, shouldn't you be in your own house?" She looked between the two of them, then slowly grinned and waved her hand between them, pointing a finger. "Are you two…"</p>
<p>Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak, but all that fell out was, "Ahhh…"</p>
<p>"Dinner between friends is what's going on...or, at least it was," he said, and looked at Elizabeth. He nudged his head in the direction of the kitchen. "It's all set in there. I'm going to go and leave you two to it."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled warmly at him. "Thank you," she said, and he nodded.</p>
<p>"Oh, hey no, don't leave on my account!" Susan said, holding up both of her hands. "If anyone leaves it should be me for dropping by unannounced. Can't we just set another place?"</p>
<p>Robert looked at Elizabeth, the question in his eyes. 'What do you want me to do?'</p>
<p>'Stay.'</p>
<p>'You sure? Not worried about gossip?'</p>
<p>''Cat's already out of the bag, and its only Susan.'</p>
<p>'Well, if you're sure?'</p>
<p>'I am.'</p>
<p>He shrugged. 'Guess, I'll set another place then."</p>
<p>Susan clapped her hands together. "Great! I hope you've made plenty 'cause I'm starving!"</p>
<p>"Right, well since that's settled I'm going to get Ella," Elizabeth said, and left the pair of them eyeing each other.</p>
<p>"So can I get one of them?" she said, pointing at the wineglass he was holding.</p>
<p>"No such thing as a free lunch, Lewis," Robert said, as he snagged the towel from off his shoulder and tossed it to her.</p>
<p>"What?" she said as she caught it.</p>
<p>"You can dry," he called out over his shoulder, as he walked back into the kitchen. She watched him go, then down at the towel, then back up. Shrugging, she followed.</p>
<p>88888888888</p>
<p>Susan finished her second helping of aubergine parmigiana by wiping the plate with the last slice of garlic bread.</p>
<p>She looked up to see both Robert and Elizabeth watching her with bemused expressions.</p>
<p>Grinning she picked up a napkin and daintily made a show of dabbing off her face. "Sorry," she said. "Robert, that was amazing. I had no idea you could cook!"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "What can I say, I am a man of many talents," he said.</p>
<p>"Oh, really? Tell me more," Susan said, and looked at Elizabeth with a lewd grin.</p>
<p>Elizabeth rolled her eyes. 'Here we go,' she thought, and fixed Robert with a stare. 'Well done!' her eyes said.</p>
<p>He blinked a silent apology at her, then stood up. "Okay, I think that's enough wine for you Lewis."</p>
<p>Susan grabbed her glass and hugged it to her, in case he was serious.</p>
<p>"Look, I'm guessing you don't really want me here, while you talk to Lizzie about whatever it is you came here to talk about?"</p>
<p>Susan's face fell serious. "I'll take that as a yes. Lizzie, why don't I take Ella up and leave you ladies to it?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled warmly at him. "Thank you Robert, that would be great."</p>
<p>"Yeah, thanks Robert," Susan sang.</p>
<p>He shot her a look which just made her smile more.</p>
<p>"Okay, Ella," he said. "Bath time then bed."</p>
<p>"An four story," Ella chimed, proudly holding up five fingers.</p>
<p>Robert grinned, "One story," and held up one finger.</p>
<p>"Three story!" she said, again waving five fingers.</p>
<p>He reached down and closed her fingers so there were just two left. "One, two," he counted for her. "Two stories, and that's my final offer."</p>
<p>Ella smiled triumphantly and reached up her arms so he could scoop her out of her high chair.</p>
<p>He stopped by Elizabeth so she could give her a kiss goodnight.</p>
<p>"Night, Ella," Susan said, and waved at her. Ella waved back as he carried her out.</p>
<p>Susan turned back to Elizabeth. "Soooo…..who is that man and what have you done with the real Doctor Romano?!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth laughed. "More wine?"</p>
<p>"Oh, thank God. I thought he was serious about cutting me off!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth grabbed the open bottle from of the table. "Shall we relocate to the lounge, and you can tell me what's going on?"</p>
<p>Susan rose out of her chair to follow. "Screw that, I want to hear what's going on with you two! I see now the real reason you turned dishy Dorset down when he asked you out!"</p>
<p>"Nothing is going on Susan...we're just friends," she said filling up their wine glasses.</p>
<p>They sat down on the couch and clinked their glasses together. "Cheers!"</p>
<p>Susan took a glug of wine then put her glass down. "I don't know Elizabeth, you guys look pretty cosy together."</p>
<p>"We are not 'together'!"</p>
<p>"I mean, you even have a whole talky thing going on with just your eyes! It's a bit spooky!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth couldn't help herself but laugh. "Yes, well you have to with the strong silent types."</p>
<p>Susan raised her eyebrows and smirked. "So, how long have you two been, 'just friends' then?"</p>
<p>"Since Halloween."</p>
<p>"That long?! Okay, that's the when, now tell me the how and why."</p>
<p>Elizabeth realised she wasn't going to let it drop, and put down her glass on the table. "Look, six months ago he was in a pretty dark place...and I was very miserable. He reached out to me at Halloween and we talked and sort of decided to be there for one another...as friends...and speaking as friends, what do you want to talk about?"</p>
<p>Susan took a long drink of wine. "Ahh, I'm not sure. It's kind of crazy now the more I think about it."</p>
<p>"What is?"</p>
<p>Susan glanced to the stairs and turned back to Elizabeth. "How long will he be?"</p>
<p>"I don't know...half hour...depends on Ella, really. Why?"</p>
<p>"It's kind of a delicate subject."</p>
<p>"Okay?"</p>
<p>"Look, maybe we should just, you know...wait until he leaves?"</p>
<p>"Oh," she said quietly, and blinked. It hadn't even dawned on her! Of course, Susan was expecting him to leave! Before Susan had arrived, the plan was he'd stay over as usual and it hadn't even crossed her mind, that the subject would even come up. She didn't want to ask him to leave, but then she reasoned, he'd probably offer anyhow, in light of Susan being here. Yeah, she could probably get away with winging it.</p>
<p>Susan who had watched Elizabeth's many changing expressions suddenly gasped as Elizabeth began to speak, and brought her hand up to her mouth. "He's not leaving is he?"</p>
<p>"He…"</p>
<p>"Lives here?!"</p>
<p>"No!"</p>
<p>"So, he just sleeps here?!" Susan grinned.</p>
<p>"No! Well, yes he does sometimes...not every night."</p>
<p>"So what...just most nights?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth groaned and nodded.</p>
<p>"Same bed?"</p>
<p>"That is none of your business!"</p>
<p>"Oh my God! Really? You're sleeping together?"</p>
<p>"Keep your voice down or he'll hear you. No we're not sleeping together...well technically, we are but not like you're thinking!"</p>
<p>"Hey, you're both consenting adults and its none of my business," Susan said, openly laughing at her now.</p>
<p>Elizabeth waited for her stop. "Have you quite finished?"</p>
<p>Susan breathed in deeply and composed her face back to semi-serious. "Sorry," she said. "Look, what's going on?"</p>
<p>"He stays Susan, because sometimes he has nightmares. Very horrible, very vivid nightmares and sometimes he...look," she stopped herself. "This is Robert's personal business, and I don't feel comfortable discussing it...I know he wouldn't want me talking to you about it."</p>
<p>Susan held up a contrite hand. "Elizabeth, it's fine. Really, it's okay, you don't have to explain. I'm sorry, I was just teasing you."</p>
<p>Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.</p>
<p>"Nightmares, huh?" Susan said, as they both reached for their wine glasses. "Yeah, I was there that night….the man's entitled to his nightmares."</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded. "Look, we're just good for each other right now, and it works. And Ella absolutely adores him...but I promise you, its one hundred percent platonic."</p>
<p>Susan nodded, and held her hands up in surrender. "Okay, if you say there's nothing going on, then as your friend I believe you...but also, as your friend, you should know I reserve the right to tease you about it."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled and dipped her head. "Fair enough."</p>
<p>"But could it become more?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth rolled her eyes heavenwards and Susan laughed.</p>
<p>"No seriously, I'm asking as a friend. I meant it when I said you two looked pretty cosy together, and everyone knows he's always had a soft spot for you. Could you become more?"</p>
<p>"I...I don't know. I hadn't considered it…"</p>
<p>"Well, that's not an outright rejection, I note," Susan said.</p>
<p>Elizabeth realised that in fact, no it wasn't, and wondered herself just what that meant. Would she consider taking their relationship further?</p>
<p>"Interesting," Susan said, watching Elizabeth mull things over in her head.</p>
<p>"Oh shut up," Elizabeth said. "Enough about me, I mean it! Now tell me why you're really here."</p>
<p>Susan glanced to the stairs again, and Elizabeth caught the look. "Oh God, it's not about Robert is it?"</p>
<p>Susan shook her head. "No, it's about Kerry," she said and lowered her voice. "Something was really off with her today."</p>
<p>"In what way?"</p>
<p>"You remember the gastric rupture?"</p>
<p>"How could I forget...the poor man died on my table."</p>
<p>"Yeah, well, the first thing I know about him is when he's brought into the ER, suffering a severe allergic reaction to something. Next thing I know, Kerry appears and starts taking charge like I'm a first year resident! She's all over it. So I ask if she knows him and she says no. But, I got the feeling like she did, and then I remembered I had actually seen him before. He came into the ER earlier that morning, and asked to see Kerry….he asked for her by name, Elizabeth! Anyhow, we get him stabilised and he starts triggering the vent, so I ask Abby to get me as soon as he wakes up. Then I learn from Abby, that Kerry sent her away for no real reason, almost like she wants her out of the way. Abby said it wasn't necessary. When we come back, Keith is conscious. He tells me he took some penicillin for syphilis...that a friend had some 'leftover,' and gave it to him, and that he didn't know he was allergic."</p>
<p>"I'm really not following."</p>
<p>"Wait, it gets stranger. Frank says he thought he saw the pair of them earlier...before he was admitted. He swears blind he saw them going into an exam room together, so I checked. There's no chart, no record, no nothing."</p>
<p>"Now that you mention it," Elizabeth said. "I thought it was strange she came to watch the operation through the observation window. A patient, you now tell me wasn't hers and claims she doesn't know."</p>
<p>"There's more…"</p>
<p>"Go on."</p>
<p>"Two weeks ago, Alderman Bright came into the ER."</p>
<p>"Yes, I recall."</p>
<p>"Well, it turns out he had syphilis. Kerry said his test came back negative when I asked her, but I know what I saw. I think Kerry treated with penicillin and discretion."</p>
<p>"Susan, what exactly are you saying?"</p>
<p>"I think Alderman Bright gave Keith syphilis, and I think he asked Kerry to discreetly deal with it. I think she gave Keith the penicillin….and I think she then tried to cover her ass."</p>
<p>"You think she's responsible for that young man's death? That's a hell of an accusation!"</p>
<p>"I know! Why do you think I came here?!" Susan said, just as Robert came down the stairs. They both stopped talking and looked up at him.</p>
<p>Robert noted the heavy atmosphere and the serious mood reflected in their faces. "Sorry, I'm interrupting something….I'll go."</p>
<p>"No, don't," Elizabeth said, and turned fixing her eyes on Susan. "I think you should tell him exactly what you just told me."</p>
<p>Susan bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head, unsure. "I don't know. I mean, I don't actually know anything, do I? I just came round to sound off, and get your take."</p>
<p>"Susan, this is really serious. You need to tell him."</p>
<p>"Tell me what?" Robert asked, not liking the sound of wherever this was going.</p>
<p>"You can trust him," Elizabeth said, still holding Susan's gaze. "I promise."</p>
<p>"Will one of you please tell me what's going on?"</p>
<p>Susan broke her eyes away and looked at him. She went to reach for her wineglass and pulled back when she realised it was empty. "Any chance of something stronger first?"</p>
<p>Robert feeling exasperated, looked to Elizabeth for help. She got up and touched his hand briefly as she passed him by. "You better sit down."</p>
<p>"Okay," he said and sat down on the couch opposite Susan. Elizabeth returned with a bottle of ten year old Laphroaig and three tumblers. His ten year old bottle to be precise, he noted. The one that Elizabeth had bought him for Christmas and he was saving for a special occasion. Whatever this was, it was not going to be a special occasion. Her eyes met with his and he saw the silent apology in them, as she sat down beside him.</p>
<p>"Awww, shit!" he sighed, and reached for the bottle. He opened it up and poured out three generous drams. Passing their glasses, he then leaned back into the couch with his own and raised it to his lips. "Well, I guess you better start talking, Lewis."</p>
<p>She did just that, carefully filling him in on what she'd just told Elizabeth. Robert listened intently without interruption until she was finished. Then he knocked back the remnants of his drink and reached for the bottle to refill it. Both women watched him as they silently took a sip of theirs. He leaned back into the couch, still processing it and closed his eyes.</p>
<p>"So what do you think?" Susan nudged, when still he said nothing.</p>
<p>He kept his eyes closed for a few more seconds before opening them, and then looked up at the ceiling. Susan looked to Elizabeth for guidance, but all she could do was shrug.</p>
<p>Eventually, he leaned forward and carefully placed the glass tumbler down on the table. "You know I saw the pair of them together this afternoon, and they looked thick as thieves," he said, shaking his head. "Look, I don't think its any secret that I'm not Kerry's biggest fan...nor her of me."</p>
<p>Both Susan and Elizabeth nodded.</p>
<p>"Kerry's ambitious and she's mercenary enough to step on other peoples careers to get what she wants...but this?" He shook his head, not wanting to believe it. "I'm not so sure."</p>
<p>Susan exhaled. "So, you think I'm wrong?" His eyes swung up and fixed hers with the precision of a laser, and she felt herself wilting under his intense gaze.</p>
<p>"I think you are an excellent doctor with very good instincts. I also think you're a good judge of character, who is objective and a fair person. I don't think you have a vindictive or malicious bone in your body."</p>
<p>Susan's jaw openly dropped at his words and Elizabeth smiled. This was the side of Robert that she loved.</p>
<p>"Thank you?" Susan said.</p>
<p>His eyes still holding hers he continued. "So knowing that I know all of that about you, and I balance that against what you've just told me? I think that if you felt something was so very wrong, that you felt the need to come here and get it of your chest...then, I tend to think there has to be something in it."</p>
<p>Susan released a breath she'd been unaware she'd been holding. "You believe me," she said quietly.</p>
<p>He turned to Elizabeth. "Lizzie, what do you think?"</p>
<p>"Same as you really."</p>
<p>"So what do we do?" Susan asked.</p>
<p>"What can we do?" Elizabeth said. "There's no proof?"</p>
<p>"But if we're right she killed a man...she can't get away with that!"</p>
<p>"She won't," Robert said, softly.</p>
<p>"Why, what are you going to do?"</p>
<p>"Leave it with me," he said quietly. "Susan, how much do Abby and Frank know?"</p>
<p>"Not much...Abby's distracted plenty with Carter, right now. She was mainly pissed that Kerry tried to blame her for bagging him too hard, and Frank doesn't really understand what he may or may not have seen."</p>
<p>"Good," he said nodding.</p>
<p>"So, what are you going to do?" Susan asked once again.</p>
<p>He took a deep breath and then suddenly stood up. "I'm going to go home and sleep on it."</p>
<p>"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Why?"</p>
<p>"Because I live there?" he said, and looked down at her a little confused. He was pretty sure she wouldn't want him to stay tonight after Susan's arrival. His being there for dinner was one thing, but he was convinced Elizabeth wouldn't be happy if Susan thought anything else was going on, no matter how innocent.</p>
<p>Susan giggled. "Oh, you can drop the act, Robert."</p>
<p>His head spun in her direction. "Excuse me?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth groaned and reached up for his hand. "It's okay Robert...I already told her you were staying over."</p>
<p>"In the guest room, obviously," Susan smirked.</p>
<p>Robert's eyes widened in surprise and he wondered, how and why that revelation had come about. "Guess Weaver wasn't the only subject of gossip, while I was upstairs," he said, glaring at Elizabeth. "What else did Lizzie tell you?"</p>
<p>With a slight shake of her head, Elizabeth's eyes silently pleaded with him not to make anything of it.</p>
<p>"Relax Robert, I was just teasing you," Susan said, hoping she hadn't somehow started something. "She just told me that sometimes you crash here if it gets late, or if you're watching Ella."</p>
<p>Robert held Elizabeth's gaze for a fraction longer. The idea of Elizabeth discussing their private life with someone else sort of bothered him. He'd shared with her things he'd never told anyone before. With her there was no need to keep up the façade he constantly felt he needed to present to everyone else. He could be himself. He could let his guard down, cry on her shoulder if he wanted and tell her his fears; and he knew, he knew it would stay private, and at that thought, a small smile tugged at the side of his cheeks. He knew she would never betray his trust and his eyes softened. The smile widened a little more as he also realised that just by the very fact she'd told Susan he sometimes slept there, meant she wasn't embarrassed by it...or more to the point, by him.</p>
<p>When he spent time here, with Elizabeth and Ella, it sometimes felt like a little bubble of make believe, separate from all other matters. Obviously people at work had noticed how much better they got on, but in reality no-one had a clue as to, just how close they were. Lizzie somehow revealing that he sometimes slept here to Susan, somehow made it...them...real, and he kind of liked it.</p>
<p>Elizabeth could see his mind working overtime and knew she would have to ask him about it later.</p>
<p>"Well, then in that case, I'm going upstairs to think about this Kerry situation. I need to figure out what I'm going to do about it, and it looks like it could get messy down here."</p>
<p>Susan nodded and grinned at Elizabeth.</p>
<p>He wandered of towards the kitchen and when he returned he was holding another bottle of wine. "You can get messy on something other than this, though," he said, reaching down to pick up his bottle of whiskey and exchanged it for the wine.</p>
<p>"Susan?"</p>
<p>She looked up at him. "You did the right thing coming here tonight. I promise you, I'll handle it, okay?"</p>
<p>She smiled, nodding at him, feeling much better than when she'd arrived.</p>
<p>"Goodnight ladies," he said, and turned to leave.</p>
<p>They watched him climb the stairs, and then Susan turned to look at Elizabeth. "I'm glad you made me tell him. He's actually alright, isn't he?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled and nodded at her friend. "Yes, he is. He's a good man, Susan."</p>
<p>"He's a bit stingy on the booze though!"</p>
<p>88888</p>
<p>Kerry Weaver stood silently fuming in the packed elevator car, and leaned heavily on her cane. She was a mess and was aware she probably looked it too. Her role in Keith's death had resulted in several sleepless nights, and had left her on edge, looking pale and drawn. To top it off, Romano had taken an unholy interest in her, to the point she felt like he was stalking her. Every time she turned around, there he was, watching her. The man had a sixth sense for finding dirt and she was scared and paranoid that he knew what she'd done. And now he wanted to see her in his office.</p>
<p>Just who the hell did he think he was, having her summoned like she was a naughty schoolchild? And by Frank of all people?! She remembered the smirk on his face as he relayed the message from Romano's office. 'He says if you're not up there in the next five minutes, you can find somewhere else to work...hey his words, not mine, don't shoot the messenger!'</p>
<p>The doors opened and she hobbled out heading towards his office. Brenda looked up briefly from her keyboard just long enough to wave her in. "Go straight in, he's expecting you."</p>
<p>Putting on her best game face she took a deep breath, mustering as much bravado as she could and walked through the open door. "What's this about, Robert? I don't appreciate being dragged away from the ER, when I have work to do!" she announced loudly.</p>
<p>Robert looked up from the files he was reading, his expression giving nothing away. His eyes took in her appearance and demeanour.</p>
<p>"Close the door," he said, then he went back to reading his files.</p>
<p>She stared at his bald head and wanted to bring her cane down on top of it. Resentfully, she pushed the door to, and turned back to see him still engrossed in his papers.</p>
<p>Eventually, he looked up at her. "Sit down, Kerry, you look exhausted. Conscience keeping you up, maybe?"</p>
<p>She felt the air rush out of her lungs and crumpled into the convenient chair. She closed her eyes briefly and thought, 'He knows! But how can he?!'</p>
<p>Having scored an immediate direct hit from the off, Robert watched silently as she scrambled her brain, and wondered how she was going to play it.</p>
<p>"I sleep like a baby, thank you," she said.</p>
<p>'So we're going for the brazen it out route, then,' he noted, and let a small smile play at the side of his mouth. Putting down his pen, he folded his arms and leaned back into his chair.</p>
<p>"Is that why you've summoned me here? To discuss my sleeping habits?"</p>
<p>He shuddered over-dramatically. "Ewww, God forbid! No, I've been watching you for a few days now Kerry."</p>
<p>"I'm aware you've been spying on me."</p>
<p>"Yeah, you're actually a good doctor. Sucky personality, but a good doctor."</p>
<p>She scowled at him, obviously wondering where he was going with this.</p>
<p>"Which is why its such a shame you did what you did."</p>
<p>"What on earth are you talking about?" she said, trying to sound bored.</p>
<p>He leaned forward, and turned around the file on his desk so she could see it. He watched her eyes glance down and widen when she saw the name on the report.</p>
<p>"I'm talking about Keith Mitchell."</p>
<p>"Keith Mitchell?"</p>
<p>"Don't do that Kerry. If you're going to kill a man, I think the very least you can do is remember his name."</p>
<p>"How dare you! That young man died due to a gastric rupture. It says so right there!" she said, pointing at the file.</p>
<p>He nodded. "It also says that upon learning he had syphilis, he was given penicillin by sources unknown. Unaware he was allergic, he was later brought into the ER in anaphylactic shock. What it does not say in this report, is that your Alderman Bright also has syphilis, and was himself treated for it, in this very hospital a few weeks prior. It also does not say that you helped keep it quiet. Now, I'm thinking the Alderman probably gave the syphilis to Keith, and since you'd been such a help the first time, he asked you to quietly make it go away again. Maybe he sweetened it for you by passing the budget. How am I doing so far?"</p>
<p>She stood up to leave. "I don't have to sit here and listen to this! It's preposterous, even for you Robert!"</p>
<p>"No you don't, but you know who will, Kerry? My new best friend Pattie, at the Chicago Tribune. She'd love to sit where you are right now, and listen to my concerns. See, she wants to get out of soft, human interest pieces and get into the nitty, gritty world of investigative journalism. She's young, ambitious as hell, and would love a scoop like this."</p>
<p>"What scoop? There is no scoop!"</p>
<p>"Really? You don't think exposing the sexual promiscuity of a prominent Alderman isn't a scoop? Hmmm," he said, rubbing his chin. "Maybe you're right...what if we throw in the fact that he also has syphilis? Yeah, I think that would definitely tick the scoop box. And you know these press types, Kerry...what else might they learn when the Alderman's sex life is put under the spot light? Maybe the fallout will warrant a closer look at this case," he said, tapping his finger on the file. He saw Kerry's eye twitch involuntarily and knew he'd hit another nerve.</p>
<p>"Maybe, your role will have to be re-examined. You want to lose your license due to malpractice? Or worse? How'd you think you're going to hold up in front of a jury Kerry, 'cause you're not looking too good right now, so sit your ass back down...NOW!"</p>
<p>Kerry lowered herself back down into the chair.</p>
<p>"I know you helped keep it quiet the first time Kerry, and I think your Alderman wanted you to repeat that favour."</p>
<p>"I...I, really don't know what you're talking about, I'm..."</p>
<p>He waved his hand to silence her. "I know all of this Kerry, because I am good at my job. You can sit there and deny it...you can sit there and say I can't prove it. But, I don't need to prove it, because your face tells me everything I need to know. I also know that this is haunting you. I know the guilt is eating you up and the fear of discovery is keeping you up at night.'</p>
<p>"Robert.."</p>
<p>"Now, like I said, I know you're a good doctor, and I know you actually care about this hospital and the poor sods that come through its doors. I know you don't like me, and I don't care. I don't like you. But I do care about this hospital. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to resign from the liaison job citing its too much for you. You're going to ensure that the Alderman appoints me, and you're going to let him know that I know everything."</p>
<p>She snorted. "So you get the liaison role after all. Just who exactly are you helping here, Robert?"</p>
<p>He drove his right fist down hard onto the desk, and she leapt back in the chair. "I am protecting this hospital, and believe it or not Kerry, I am protecting you."</p>
<p>Her face twisted in disbelief. "How?"</p>
<p>"How do you think this would look if it came out? ER Doc gives drugs out to cover up some sleazy politicians sex secrets! You think they'd stop at just cutting the budget? You know as well as I do there are those out there who want us shut down altogether! You are way beyond compromised, can you not see that? Do you honestly think he won't ask you for more 'favours'? When will it end? Where will it end? He thinks he owns you now. I'm going to make Bright fight tooth and nail on every proposal for this hospital. And he'll do it, because I know what he is."</p>
<p>Kerry looked down at her hands. They were shaking and she tried to still them. Was he right? As liaison she would have to continue to see Jonathon. He hadn't cared that Keith had died. He only cared that his precious reputation hadn't been harmed. He wasn't going to change and he'd made that crystal clear. The only reason she was in this mess was because he'd threatened to cut the hospitals emergency services budget if she didn't 'help'. He'd pulled her strings from the moment they met and she knew he wouldn't stop. She was the one who had administered the drug. She was the one who would go to jail. Romano was right, and she tried to suck back the sob she felt threatening to spill out of her throat. She was in way over her head.</p>
<p>Robert leaned back in his chair watching her internal debate and knew he'd delivered the knock out punch. Then he reached forward for the phone and pushed a button.</p>
<p>Kerry looked up alarmed. "No, Robert! Please don't!"</p>
<p>"Brenda?"</p>
<p>She covered her face in her hands and started crying.</p>
<p>"Hold all my calls and make sure no-one disturbs me until I say otherwise, okay? Damn, yeah, I forgot about him...okay, cancel and reschedule for when I get back from LA. Thank you."</p>
<p>He replaced the handset and opened his desk drawer, pulling out the bottle of Scotch he kept there. Kerry slowly moved her hands and watched as he produced two glasses and filled them. He pushed one across the table towards her and picked the other one up.</p>
<p>"I don't think you're a bad person Kerry."</p>
<p>She reached for the other glass and held it in her hand, staring into the amber liquid. She risked a quick look up at him and found his eyes watching her intently.</p>
<p>"I know you didn't mean for any of this to happen, but it did and at some point you're going to want to talk to someone to stop yourself from going mad."</p>
<p>"Who am I going to talk to, Robert?!"</p>
<p>"Think of me as your priest, Kerry."</p>
<p>"What?!" she snorted derisively.</p>
<p>"Not an attractive option I know, but when you wake up in the middle of the night, alone and scared out of your mind, you'll be surprised at just what you're willing to do. Trust me, I have some experience."</p>
<p>She looked at him properly waiting for the punchline. When none came, she took a sip of the scotch and winced at the strong flavour.</p>
<p>"How'd he get you to do it? I mean I can sort of see how you'd take the risk the first time….but twice?"</p>
<p>"He threatened the ER with closure," she said quietly. "He made it very clear that if I didn't do it, he'd vote to cut the emergency services budget."</p>
<p>Robert nodded, and rubbed his hand over his face. "So what went wrong?"</p>
<p>"When Keith turned up I panicked. I just wanted to get him out of there and he didn't tell me he was allergic," she said, and wiped at her eyes.</p>
<p>"Did you even ask?"</p>
<p>She refused to look at him, but shook her head.</p>
<p>"You're a doctor Kerry, and a good one, but you're so driven by ambition that sometimes you let it blind you...and when it does, you make very bad decisions. It was incumbent on you to ask that young man if he had any known allergies and you failed. Your negligence is what should be written here as cause of death, and you're going to have to find a way to live with that."</p>
<p>"Please," she said. "Stop. I will speak to Jonathon and formally resign from the post, and strongly recommend you take over. May I go now?" she said, trying hard to fight back tears.</p>
<p>He nodded, and she slowly rose out of the chair. He watched her stand and walk towards to the door looking utterly defeated.</p>
<p>"Kerry?"</p>
<p>She stopped her hand hovering over the door handle. "Yes?"</p>
<p>"You need to live with this, but I meant it earlier. Nights are a bitch, so if you find yourself desperate enough to want to talk." He couldn't believe he was going to say this. "Call me."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Elizabeth clamped her hand over her mouth in an attempt to silence the painful hissing sound she made when her big toe collided with the corner of the bedside table. She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the dark, but she saw no movement from Robert. He looked to be asleep, lying on his right side. It was quite late and she should have been back hours ago, but Susan had talked her into going for a 'quick' drink. She should have known better. Lifting up the corner of the duvet gently, she slid under the covers. The walk from the EL station had left her cold, but it was wonderfully warm under there, especially the part Robert was occupying. She snuggled closer to him hoping to leach off some of his body heat.</p>
<p>"Don't even think about sliding those icebergs over here," he grumbled.</p>
<p>Caught in the act she pulled her feet back. "Wouldn't dream of it," she said. "Sorry, did I wake you?"</p>
<p>"Nah, I was awake," he said quietly. Too quietly, she thought.</p>
<p>"Are you okay?" she ventured, knowing he'd probably had a nightmare. "Bad dream?"</p>
<p>He rolled over onto his back and turned his head to find her concerned blue eyes watching him. She was on her side, with her her head propped up in her hand.</p>
<p>"Just the usual," he said, twirling his finger around in the air before rubbing his eyes with his hand.</p>
<p>She reached over and pulled his hand away so she could see his face. "Robert?"</p>
<p>"I'm okay," he said and smiled at her, but she wasn't being fooled by it.</p>
<p>"Really, I'm okay," he reiterated, and met her eyes looking her over properly. "You're late..trouble at'mill?" he asked in a really poor English accent and she laughed, despite herself, knowing he was changing the subject. He'd been practising English colloquialisms on her of late, with great comic effect.</p>
<p>"No, no trouble. But I did run into Susan on the way out and she talked me into going for a quick drink."</p>
<p>Robert smirked. "Oh-oh...how bad?" he asked, holding up four fingers.</p>
<p>She batted the hand away dismissively, and he raised a knowing eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Fine. I would say I'm squiffy."</p>
<p>"Is squiffy something I should be worried about?"</p>
<p>"Squiffy is fine. Tipsy is when you have to worry."</p>
<p>"I thought that was 'bollocksed?'"</p>
<p>"No, if I ever get bollocksed you should just run and never look back."</p>
<p>"Noted."</p>
<p>She smiled at him. "Susan said you treated her to lunch today?"</p>
<p>"If Susan thinks lunch at Doc Magoo's is a treat she needs to get out more...but yes, I did. I wanted to make sure she understood why Kerry was still in a job, and why I was now the new liaison."</p>
<p>"Worried she thought you were taking advantage of the situation?"</p>
<p>He nodded. "She says she gets it. I also told her that if there's any blowback from Kerry, I want her to let me know straight away. Even though her name was never mentioned, Kerry will have figured out who tipped me off by now."</p>
<p>"I still think you were a little soft on her."</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Didn't see any other option without exposing the hospital to a whole lot of negative publicity. That and no actual proof? Could have backfired big time on us."</p>
<p>"I know," she sighed. "It just feels like she's got away with it."</p>
<p>"She hasn't got away with it, Lizzie. It's going to stay with her forever."</p>
<p>"How do you mean?"</p>
<p>"She's going to see his face every night in her dreams...that's if she's lucky enough to actually get some sleep."</p>
<p>"I suppose. I can't believe you offered to let her talk to you either."</p>
<p>"Yeah well, its not like she can just go and chat about it with anyone is it?"</p>
<p>"She deserves to suffer for what she did."</p>
<p>"Some people said I deserved to suffer when this happened to me."</p>
<p>"Yes, and she was one of them Robert!"</p>
<p>"Maybe, but I have a slightly different perspective now. Some things are just too big and you can't keep them to yourself. If I didn't have you to hear me out, I'd have gone crazy long ago."</p>
<p>"This is a bit rich coming from you," she scoffed.</p>
<p>"What's that supposed to mean?"</p>
<p>"Robert, you're still having nightmares. Not as many I know, but they're still plaguing you. Maybe you should take your own advice and speak to someone about it?"</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes at her. "I talk to you."</p>
<p>"Don't be obtuse Robert, you know exactly what I mean! Yes, you talk to me, but I also know you keep things back! It's not enough Robert! There's a massive difference between supporting and helping. I want to help you, I really do...but this is too much. I can be your friend, I can listen to you, but what I can't do is fix you and I wish I could! I wish I could take all of the pain away, but I can't!"</p>
<p>Robert stared hard at her and she reached over to touch his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Look, I know I've touched on this before, but I really think you should talk to someone...someone who is trained, who can actually help you."</p>
<p>"Can we not do this now Lizzie? I'm tired and we have an early start tomorrow." He made to roll over, but she kept her hand on his shoulder and pulled him back.</p>
<p>"Robert, please. Talk to me."</p>
<p>He shrugged her hand away and rolled back onto his side, showing her his back.</p>
<p>"Robert.."</p>
<p>"Sleeping now," he said.</p>
<p>She knew that was as far as she'd get on the subject for now, but at least he hadn't outright refused, and that in itself was progress.</p>
<p>8888888</p>
<p>Robert had arranged to meet his sister on neutral ground, figuring Disneyland was as good a place as any. She was waiting at their pre-arranged spot when they approached and spotted him immediately. She waved and hurried over, and Robert moved forward to meet her.</p>
<p>Elizabeth stood on the periphery trying to contain an excited Ella, whilst they had their reunion. Tess was roughly the same height as Robert, with a slender build and she wore her blond hair shoulder length. She didn't appear to be wearing any make up and she didn't need it. Naturally beautiful, she drew looks from some passers-by, even though she was dressed in jeans and a light blouse. She watched the two siblings meet, then falter, take a step back, then grin and hug each other.</p>
<p>"Hey Rob!"</p>
<p>"Hi Tess. It's good to see you."</p>
<p>"Been too long, but you don't look bad all things considered," Tess said, taking a step back to look at him properly.</p>
<p>"Back at you." He looked over his shoulder. "Tess, this is Elizabeth and Ella, Elizabeth and Ella, this is my sister Tess."</p>
<p>"Pleased to meet you at last," Elizabeth said, holding out her hand.</p>
<p>"Whoa Rob!" Tess exclaimed, glancing quickly at Robert, then back to Elizabeth. "You never said she was beautiful!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth felt her cheeks redden, as they shook hands.</p>
<p>"And this must be Ella," Tess said holding her arms out wide. Ella looked up smiling and lifted up her own arms. Tess looked at Elizabeth, who nodded then bent down and scooped her up. "She's adorable!"</p>
<p>"Shall we?" Elizabeth said, eager to get inside and they turned heading for the entrance.</p>
<p>8888888888</p>
<p>The day went well, with Ella wanting to go on as many attractions as her little frame permitted. Around lunch they took a break and afterwards Ella 'dragged' Robert off to look in the gift shop. Tess came back to their table with a tray of coffee's and a juice carton for Ella.</p>
<p>"Thank you," Elizabeth said.</p>
<p>"You're welcome." She shook a sugar sachet and emptied the contents into her cup of coffee. Twirling round the wooden strip she looked at Elizabeth. "So what exactly has he told you about me?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled. "Not an awful lot I'm afraid."</p>
<p>"That figures," she mumbled.</p>
<p>"Well, what's he told you about me?" Elizabeth countered.</p>
<p>Tess looked up at her and grinned. "Touché. I see why he likes you. My brother doesn't like to give much away, does he?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth took a sip of her coffee and lowered it. In a conspiratorial voice, she said, "Shall we fill in the gaps for each other then?"</p>
<p>Tess laughed and pointed a finger at her. "I like you. You're a straight talker. So, lets talk...what's the real deal with you two?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth placed her coffee cup on the table. "What you've seen is the real deal...we're just good friends who look out for each other. I'd not long lost my husband to illness when Robert had his accident. I was lonely and as you know Robert was struggling..."</p>
<p>Tess made a scoffing noise at that and Elizabeth stared at her, so she cleared her throat. "No, I didn't know that. I've never known Rob to struggle with anything his whole life. He's never had to ask for help. He's the one that swoops in and sorts out problems. In his head, hard work and determination heal all problems." She leaned forward. "Tell me, what was your first impression of Rob when you first met him?"</p>
<p>The unexpected question threw her, and she sat back to think. "My first impression was of an intelligent, talented surgeon with an ego to go with it."</p>
<p>Tess grinned and slapped her hand on the table. "There...right there, that's my brother! That's the version I know. I don't know yours."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>Tess leaned back in her chair. "Rob was always the straight arrow, you know? Switched on, even as kids. School came easy to him, straight A's all the way, and good enough at sports to stop him being bunched in with the nerds. Me? I was distinctly average at everything. He was always a momma's boy, so when dad walked out on us, it hit me the worst…Rob did what Rob does best. He stepped up…me? I derailed." She picked up her coffee cup and took a tentative sip.</p>
<p>Elizabeth waited patiently for Tess to continue.</p>
<p>"I went a bit wild and started hanging out with the 'cool' kids and getting into trouble, but it didn't matter because for once, I was getting some attention and I became something Rob never was...popular. Suddenly, I'm getting invited to parties and asked out and it went straight to my head. I started drinking, smoking weed, and my average grades became failing grades. Golden boy though? He's still shining brightly. Going to be a doctor so he can take care of momma, he says. I'll be honest with you, I put our mom through hell and I'm not proud of that...I get why he was annoyed at me now, but back then it just seemed everything came so easy to him, you know? I hated him for it some days."</p>
<p>"Have you ever told him any of this?"</p>
<p>She shook her head. "No. We've not had a real conversation since he left for college. Closest we got to one, was balling at each other at mom's wake. Something neither of us is proud of."</p>
<p>"Well, you're both here now."</p>
<p>"Yeah, and I think we have you to thank for that. Thanks for looking out for him."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled and sipped some more of her coffee. "Robert told me you have a daughter. Sarah, is it?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she smiled. "She's going to be starting her first semester at Berkeley in the fall, which I'm very excited about! It means I'll be able to see her more often." She narrowed her eyes. "Did Rob tell you anything else?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shook her head. "Not really."</p>
<p>"Oh. Well, you might as well know everything. I left home too young, got pregnant too young and got married too young." She waved her hand in the air. "Dave was an airman I met in a bar. We dated, got pregnant so got married. We moved around a lot, base to base and I hated every minute of it. I started drinking more and more, until it became a problem. Cue divorce and that's where Rob's biggest problem with me is...he thinks I abandoned my daughter, but the truth is I couldn't look after her at the time."</p>
<p>This was all news to Elizabeth and she made a mental note to brain Robert for not being more open with her.</p>
<p>"After I lost custody of Sarah I really went off the rails for a few years, and I don't blame Rob at this point. The only times he ever heard from me was when I needed a hand out. Anyhow, eventually I got in a program, and came out here. Met some good people and found a job. When mom had her stroke, he wanted me to move back permanently and help take care of her, but it was mom who convinced me not to. She said she was fine, and I think now she was worried about me falling off the wagon without my support group. I kick myself everyday for not going."</p>
<p>A very familiar excited voice carried across the food hall and Elizabeth turned to see Robert approaching with Ella. He was carrying several gift bags, and she shook her head. "I do wonder if he will ever learn to say no to her."</p>
<p>"Save your breath," Tess said. "He was exactly the same with Sarah."</p>
<p>They grinned at each other and Elizabeth reached across the table squeezing her hand. She lowered her voice. "If you like, we can carry on with this chat later?"</p>
<p>Tess nodded and smiled at her. "Yeah, that would be good."</p>
<p>8888888888888888</p>
<p>Tess heard a noise coming from downstairs and lowered the book she was reading. She glanced at the clock and noted the late hour. They'd all retired to bed relatively early after a full, full on day, so when she heard it again, she climbed out of bed and followed the noise downstairs. A sliver of light was coming from the kitchen door, which was slightly ajar.</p>
<p>She opened the door and caught Robert closing a cupboard door, only to then pull open another.</p>
<p>"Look all you like Rob, you won't find anything," she said, failing to keep the hurt out of her voice.</p>
<p>He turned around, surprised to see Tess scowling at him from where she stood leaning against the kitchen door, arms folded.</p>
<p>"You don't have tea?"</p>
<p>"Tea?" she said, taken aback.</p>
<p>"Yeah, tea. Lizzie wants a cup. You have some or not?"</p>
<p>She walked past him, and opened the one cupboard he hadn't yet searched. She reached in and started rummaging.</p>
<p>"Tess?"</p>
<p>She stopped her search momentarily, to look back at him. "I was just looking for tea, okay?" he said quietly. "Wouldn't be leaving you with Ella tomorrow if I didn't trust you, would I?"</p>
<p>She gave him a grateful smile and nodded, then went back to moving things around, until with a triumphant flourish she produced a box of tea. "Hah, knew I had some somewhere!" She tossed the box over to him and he caught it. It looked old, and warily he sniffed the contents pulling a face. "How old is this?"</p>
<p>"I dunno...I'm not really a tea fan. Think that was there when I moved in."</p>
<p>Robert's face reflected disgust. "Okay then. How far is the closest store?"</p>
<p>"Seriously? Can't she drink coffee?"</p>
<p>He looked at her like she was an idiot. "Lizzie's English, tired and wants tea."</p>
<p>She walked over and swiped the box from out of his hands. "Oh relax, I'm messing with you. I opened it myself...admittedly, well over a year ago, but I can vouch for its origins." She filled the kettle with water and looked at him.</p>
<p>"So, can't sleep then?"</p>
<p>He rubbed a tired hand over his face and shook his head.</p>
<p>Stepping away from the counter top, she pulled a chair away from the kitchen table and sat down. Lifting a foot she shoved the chair opposite so it pushed out. Robert took the hint and grabbed the back of it, pulling it out more and sat down.</p>
<p>"Nervous about tomorrow?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Although, don't know who's more nervous. Lizzie or me."</p>
<p>"What will you do if its not the news you want?"</p>
<p>"Honestly? I don't know. Trying not to think about it until I'm faced with it."</p>
<p>"If I know you, you'll be okay Rob."</p>
<p>"Listen, at mom's…"</p>
<p>She waved a hand at him. "Let's not. You said some things, I said some things and we're both sorry. Yes?"</p>
<p>Robert nodded.</p>
<p>"There you go then. Water under the bridge. Agreed?"</p>
<p>"Agreed."</p>
<p>She pointed at his left arm. "I wish you'd told me though. I mean I get why you didn't...but still, you should have told me when it happened."</p>
<p>He looked at her. "Yeah, I know. Sorry 'bout that. Have you told Sarah?"</p>
<p>"I told her we'd buried the hatchet at New Year, but I haven't told her about the 'accident.' She was studying for her finals and I didn't want to stress her out, considering you seemed to be in a good place at the time."</p>
<p>"Fair enough.</p>
<p>"Plus, I really think its something she should hear from her uncle, himself. Don't you?"</p>
<p>"Also fair enough."</p>
<p>"So Elizabeth is nice."</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>"And Ella is very sweet."</p>
<p>"Yep."</p>
<p>"So what's the deal with you two?"</p>
<p>"Nothing, just friends."</p>
<p>"You look more than that to me. And you're great with Ella!"</p>
<p>"Still just friends."</p>
<p>"Let me guess...its complicated?"</p>
<p>He shook his head. "Nothing complicated about it Tess. We're friends and Lizzie doesn't want anything more than that."</p>
<p>"But you do? C'mon Rob! That chopper sliced your arm off, not your..."</p>
<p>He covered his face with his hand, shaking his head. "Not having this conversation."</p>
<p>"I mean, you do still have a pulse, right? Rob? C'mon, she's beautiful!"</p>
<p>"Yes, I have a pulse Tess, and I also have eyes in my head...I'm well aware Elizabeth is beautiful!"</p>
<p>"So?"</p>
<p>"So what?"</p>
<p>He got up and grabbed a cup from the cupboard, then looked at her. "You want one?"</p>
<p>She wrinkled her nose and he shrugged, throwing a solitary teabag into the waiting cup, then turned back towards her.</p>
<p>"Look, I did actually ask her out once, and she turned me down. She wasn't interested then, and she's not interested now….it might have taken me awhile, but I'm okay with that. We're friends, nothing more. Got it? Capeesh?"</p>
<p>"Well, I think she likes you."</p>
<p>"Oh, look at that. Waters boiled already," he said reaching for the kettle and turned back to pour the water.</p>
<p>"So have you two never gone out 'as friends'? Like out together, for dinner or something."</p>
<p>"We've had lunches at work, picnics with Ella in the park."</p>
<p>"But never gone out to dinner? Like in a nice, fancy restaurant, all dressed up?"</p>
<p>He sighed heavily. "No Tess, because what you're describing is a date...and we're not dating."</p>
<p>"Okay then," she said and shrugged.</p>
<p>Robert's eyebrows drifted up his forehead. "Really?"</p>
<p>She grinned. "Yep...for now."</p>
<p>"I'll take that," he grinned back at her and finished making the tea.</p>
<p>"Well, I guess I should let you take that up to Elizabeth and we'll all try and get some rest, huh?" she said, rising out of the chair. "And don't worry...I have a good feeling about tomorrow."</p>
<p>He nodded gratefully at her and picked up the cup. As he passed her by he leaned in and give her a kiss on the cheek. "G'night, sis."</p>
<p>She grinned at him. "Been a long time since you called me that." He smiled back at her, then left.</p>
<p>8888888888888888</p>
<p>"So you'd have to visit with me for regular check-ups, but your day to day therapy sessions would be handled by one of my colleagues. Fortunately for you, there are a couple of good people who satellite for me, in and around Chicago. How does that sound?"</p>
<p>"Sounds great." Robert was grinning broadly and nodded. He'd spent the whole day in the clinic. He'd filled in stupid questionnaires, been poked, prodded, assessed and interviewed. He was sore and he was tired. But he'd also just been told that he, and his arm were in fact, not a lost cause and it was all he could do not to leap for joy. From the way she was tightly gripping his hand he knew Elizabeth was just as excited.</p>
<p>"In my opinion, your initial care had major failings, and your PT has been too aggressive and unrealistic...too much, too fast, all geared towards you getting back full use of your hand to let you perform surgery again. They should have made it understood from day one that that was never going to happen. The fact that you've now recognised that and come to terms with it, is an excellent starting point, in how we approach your treatment. The first thing we need to do is improve the circulation in your arm, so I'd like to get you into surgery as soon as possible for that. It's a relatively simple procedure and you should be up and about after a couple of days. Joint rotation is good and I still see plenty of growth in both sensory and motor nerves. Now your accident happened ten months ago, so you shouldn't really have expected any sensation in your fingers, however in as little as four months I believe you will start to see sensation coming back in your hand too. You've recently encountered a problem manipulating the thumb...its why you dropped the coffee cup... I can fix that that by re-routing the tendon from your index finger to your thumb."</p>
<p>Robert glanced at Elizabeth and grinned. She squeezed his hand tighter in response.</p>
<p>"I'll need you to wear a sleeve like this over your arm," Symons continued, passing an example to Robert. "It will help protect you from knocks, but also help manage pain due to poor circulation, especially during the winter months. I'll be honest with you, you're going to suffer poor circulation for the rest of your life, and Chicago is a pretty hostile environment. At some point you may want to consider moving to a warmer climate. I believe you have family out here?"</p>
<p>Robert nodded. "My sister."</p>
<p>Elizabeth sneaked a look at him. Would he consider moving? The very idea had never crossed her mind and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. In the short time they'd started their friendship, he'd been a constant in her life, Ella's too. She shook her head and tried not to think about it, instead refocusing on following the rest of the conversation.</p>
<p>"Look, if we sign you up to this programme, I can guarantee you a better, long lasting result than what you have right now. I think you're looking at recovering 60-70% use. You may have hoped for more, but that's a huge figure, and you can do an awful lot within that range...I'm happy to take you on, but only if you take on everything that goes with it. We're going to focus more on occupational therapy...I want to know what you enjoy doing. Elizabeth tells me you're an excellent cook?"</p>
<p>Robert shrugged with feigned modesty.</p>
<p>"Tell me something you miss, besides surgery, that you've lost?"</p>
<p>Robert thought of the many things. He used to play golf but realised he didn't actually miss it. It had been more of a networking thing and he'd just fallen into that click like so many others.</p>
<p>"I'm a black belt in karate...haven't been near a dojo since, this," he said, looking down at his left hand.</p>
<p>Doctor Symons smiled at him. "Have you considered learning Tai chi?"</p>
<p>Robert looked thoughtful, then a small smile played across his face. "I hadn't, but yeah I guess that's something I'd be able to do."</p>
<p>"Good. What else?"</p>
<p>"I lost music. I play...played guitar, piano."</p>
<p>He caught Elizabeth staring at him. This was news to her and he knew he was in for the third degree afterwards.</p>
<p>"Okay. Do you sing?"</p>
<p>Robert looked embarrassed, but admitted softly. "Yeah, I can sing."</p>
<p>"Okay, so you can sing and you can hear, so music is not in fact, lost at all. And regarding the piano, I see no reason why we can't work that into your therapy. The point I'm trying to make, Doctor Romano, is that you have to think laterally and look for solutions. And if none can be found, then find something else. New hobbies, new challenges. Its time to start putting positives back in your life. New goals that you can achieve that will improve your life or just make you happier in general."</p>
<p>"Sounds good," Robert said.</p>
<p>Doctor Symons leaned forward and locked his eyes on Robert's "But it's not just about doing PT everyday. Because all of that, can only come about from healing up here too," he said pointing at his head. "Emotional recovery is just as important as your physical one, and to achieve that you need to agree to talk to a therapist."</p>
<p>Elizabeth felt the pressure on her hand increasing as he gripped harder, and she glanced nervously at Robert. She'd broached the very subject several times with him, and each time he'd always shut her down, refusing to even consider it.</p>
<p>"Part of the recovery programme I will structure for you, will involve you seeing a therapist. That helicopter didn't just slice your arm off Doctor Romano...it left you traumatised, and it's why you don't sleep well. In all likelihood you're suffering from PTSD on top of your physical injury, and all of that has had a negative impact on your recovery. Both treatments are essential and I must stress…you can't have one without the other. Do you agree?"</p>
<p>Robert did not agree. He did not agree at all, and he hated the idea of having to see a shrink, but the pragmatic side of him told him this would likely be his last chance at recovery. He could feel Elizabeth's eyes on him and flicked his own towards her, seeing the deep look of concern within them. 'Please don't fuck this up, they screamed.' This woman who was his rock, who desperately wanted nothing more for him than to get better and be happy. He smiled at her and nodded, and the relieved, proud smile he received back filled his heart with joy.</p>
<p>Robert leaned forward, and offered up his hand. "Whatever I have to do Doctor Symons, I'll do it."</p>
<p>Doctor Symons smiled and stood. He reached down and shook his hand. "Excellent."</p>
<p>888888888888</p>
<p>Tess opened the front door as Elizabeth walked up the driveway. She saw the smile on Elizabeth's face and relaxed. "Is it good news?" she asked, looking past Elizabeth at Robert who was still paying the cab driver.</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded excitedly. "It's very good news. He's going to have to have some minor surgeries to help with circulation, but the outlook is very positive."</p>
<p>"Oh, thank God!"</p>
<p>"See Lizzie brought you up to speed already," Robert said, as he caught up to them.</p>
<p>Tess grinned and nodded. "I'm really pleased for you, Rob!"</p>
<p>"You say that now…but it means you're gonna see a lot more of me," he said, and smiled. "Think you can cope with that?"</p>
<p>She stepped forward and hugged him in response.</p>
<p>"Was Ella good for you?" Elizabeth enquired, when they broke apart.</p>
<p>"Of course! She was an angel. We spent most of the day at the beach and I think I may have tired her out I'm afraid. I put her down for a nap about an hour ago."</p>
<p>"Oh," Elizabeth said, disappointed. "I thought we could have all gone out to an early dinner to celebrate."</p>
<p>"We can order something in," Robert offered.</p>
<p>"Rob, don't be an idiot!" Tess snorted. "You can't celebrate news like this over a pizza! Plus Elizabeth's never been to Malibu before. You guys should go out for dinner, and I'll watch Ella."</p>
<p>Robert shot his sister a warning look which quickly disappeared when he saw an excited smile forming on Elizabeth's face.</p>
<p>Elizabeth looked at Robert. "Could we?"</p>
<p>Robert couldn't believe the day he was having. First, good news regarding his arm and now Elizabeth was asking him if he wanted to take her out to dinner? His eyes shot a quick thank you at his sister, and he smiled back. "Sure, why not," he said trying to sound cool. "Anywhere you can recommend, Tess?"</p>
<p>"Nowhere too posh mind," Elizabeth said. "I didn't exactly pack with dinner in mind."</p>
<p>"I'll call in a reservation at 'The Sunset' for you...it's a great place just off the beach, nice and casual, beautiful views and the food's really good!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth clapped her hands together. "Brilliant. I'll go lay claim to the bathroom then."</p>
<p>Robert and Tess watched her retreating back, then turned to face each other.</p>
<p>"You're welcome," she said and winked.</p>
<p>"Still not a date," he said, following her in.</p>
<p>She turned towards him while reaching for the phone. "Well Rob, I guess it's what you make it."</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>"Well, I'll hand it to Tess. She picked a good spot," Robert said, putting the last forkful of steak in his mouth.</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled over at him and finished off her glass of wine. She couldn't remember the last time, if ever, she'd seen him looking so relaxed.</p>
<p>He caught her staring. "What?" he said, self-consciously.</p>
<p>"Nothing. It's just nice to see you relaxed for once."</p>
<p>"You've seen me relaxed plenty of times."</p>
<p>"Not like this," she said and waved her hand at him. "I don't know, maybe it's the sea air...or maybe its the positive prognosis, but you seem different...a little lighter. Does that make sense?"</p>
<p>"Not after the size of steak I just put away," he said, and reached for his own wineglass. He drained the contents and placed it back on the table. When he looked back up Elizabeth was looking at him expectantly with her arms folded across her chest.</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes at her. "What do you want me to say, Lizzie? You want me to wax lyrical about how for the first time since this happened, I actually feel optimistic...that I'm beginning to think I may actually get through this relatively intact? Because I do. But what I really want to do, right now, is just be a regular guy, who by some freak luck happens to be out having dinner with an incredibly beautiful lady."</p>
<p>She beamed back at him and uncrossed her arms.</p>
<p>"So on that note, would you like to share another bottle of wine?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Depends. Would you like to see me go from squiffy to tipsy?"</p>
<p>He leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Lizzie, that is something I would pay to see."</p>
<p>She put her hands together and leaned forward placing her elbows on the table. Resting her chin in her hands, she smiled a smile that took his breath away. "Robert, you are paying."</p>
<p>He grinned. "Well, in that case." Looking around for their waitress he spotted her and waved his hand to attract her attention. "Can we get another bottle of your finest, please."</p>
<p>The woman nodded and Robert turned back to see Elizabeth grinning at him with a look he couldn't quite pin down. It was somewhere between flirtation and bemusement.</p>
<p>"Trying to get me drunk?" she purred in a silky voice.</p>
<p>"I thought we'd just established that already with the whole squishy to tipsy transition?"</p>
<p>The bottle arrived and Robert picked it up to pour, but stopped, the neck hovering over her glass.</p>
<p>"One condition," he said.</p>
<p>"Yes?"</p>
<p>"To be clear, I'm paying for tipsy...not bollocksed. There is no way I'm carrying you back to my sisters."</p>
<p>She snorted and waved the glass at him. "A, you couldn't carry me even if you tried to, and B…"</p>
<p>"B?"</p>
<p>"Pour the bloody wine already, Rob,b,b,b,b!" she said, smacking her lips as she sounded off each 'b'.</p>
<p>He grinned and refilled both of their glasses shaking his head. "Wondered how long it would take you."</p>
<p>"So, tell me then Rob, do you prefer Rob? Or maybe Robbie? Or Bob even? Bobby? No, I don't think you look like a Bobby. Which is it to be?"</p>
<p>He shook his head in amusement and grinned. "None of the above."</p>
<p>"So, why does she call you Rob then?"</p>
<p>"Two reasons. First one being she's too lazy to overuse syllables."</p>
<p>Elizabeth's eyebrows shot up. She crossed her arms and smirked at him. "Oh really? Lazy, you say?"</p>
<p>Robert opened his mouth, thought about it, closed his mouth and grinned. "And the second reason E-Liz-A-Beth,' he enunciated slowly. "Is she started calling me that when we were kids, basically just to annoy me."</p>
<p>"Just to annoy you, you say? Imagine that." She smirked. "So, did it work?"</p>
<p>He returned her smirk and laced it with a shrug of indifference. "She's my little sister, everything she did annoyed me."</p>
<p>"Mmhmm." She put the glass to her lips and sipped some wine. "So which one are you then? Lazy or just trying to annoy me?"</p>
<p>"Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie," he said, shaking his head. "What, you don't like Lizzie?"</p>
<p>She shook her head, bemused. "Don't turn this back on me."</p>
<p>"Is that what I'm doing?"</p>
<p>"Do you always answer questions with a question?"</p>
<p>"Oh, you noticed that, huh?"</p>
<p>She rolled her tongue around the inside of her cheek. "Yes. I've also noticed that you're stalling."</p>
<p>"I am not stalling, I am simply thinking."</p>
<p>"Well, I am thinking that you are simply stalling, so answer the question."</p>
<p>He smiled cheekily and brought the wineglass up to his lips. "What was the question again?" he asked, innocently.</p>
<p>8888888</p>
<p>Another round of quick fire questions later, they'd finished dessert and polished off the bottle too.</p>
<p>"Seems weird, to think we'll be back in Chicago tomorrow," Elizabeth sighed.</p>
<p>"Way to bring the mood down. Gotta say, I'm feeling a little short changed with 'tipsy Lizzie.'"</p>
<p>She raised her eyebrow and followed it straight up with her hand. "Check please."</p>
<p>Robert cursed himself, wondering just what the hell he'd done. "Sorry," he said.</p>
<p>"What for? You haven't done anything wrong." She smiled the smile that always made him smile as the waitress arrived with the check. He took his wallet out and threw down enough to include a generous tip. When he looked back up, Elizabeth was already stood up, her hand outstretched towards him.</p>
<p>"Come on."</p>
<p>"Where to?"</p>
<p>"I want to dip my toes in the ocean."</p>
<p>He grinned and shook his head in wonder. "You're crazy," he said, but nevertheless slipped his hand into her waiting palm and let her pull him up. They left the restaurant and walked towards the beach. As soon as they hit sand Elizabeth kicked off her shoes, squishing the sand between her toes, feeling like a little girl once again. She looked up into the night sky, admiring the bright full moon and the clear rippling, path it cut across the ocean. She reached down to pick up her shoes and then started running straight towards it.</p>
<p>Robert stroked his cheek and shook his head amused, then slowly set off after her, catching her up as she played chicken darting in and out, of the retreating tide.</p>
<p>"You know, I'm no expert but I think you have to actually get in there to dip your toes."</p>
<p>She turned smiling to face him, and he felt his breath catch in his throat as she stood there against the backdrop of the moon.</p>
<p>"Ha-ha," she said.</p>
<p>"Not scared of a little cold water are you, Lizzie?"</p>
<p>In answer she walked backwards wearing a big smile. "Coming in?" She purred, and stretched out a hand towards him, beckoning him like a siren.</p>
<p>He found his feet involuntarily propelling him forward as rational thought abandoned him. Only as he got closer and his brain registered the beguiling delight on her face, did he realise his error. He watched helpless as she swung her leg back suddenly and kicked up a spray of seawater at him.</p>
<p>He looked down shocked at the now partially wet front of his shirt and jeans. "Jeezus Lizzie, how old are you?!"</p>
<p>She giggled and he looked back up, just as she kicked some more, laughing as instinctively he turned his back to her.</p>
<p>"Quit it!"</p>
<p>He laughed at the sound of her laughter, and turned towards her again. She moved to kick once more but misjudged, losing her balance and stumbled backwards, arms flailing trying desperately not to fall. Robert moved quickly and reached out catching her by the waist before she fell, pulling her towards him with a bit more force than he thought. "I've got you," he said, just as their bodies bumped into each other, causing them to stumble backwards. Several steps later they fell unceremoniously in a heap, Elizabeth landing heavily on top of him. Robert felt winded as the air rushed out of his lungs, and he tried desperately to suck more in.</p>
<p>She could feel his heartbeat thumping against her chest as he breathed hard, and turned concerned eyes on him. "Are you okay?</p>
<p>The weight of her body pressing against his, plus the proximity of her face made Robert gulp. "Yeah. Are you?" he rasped.</p>
<p>In response she grinned and started giggling again.</p>
<p>"So, this is what tipsy looks like," he asked, managing to find his voice again.</p>
<p>"Oops," she said. "Still feel short- changed?"</p>
<p>His eyes flittered down briefly to her lips, and he forced them back up to her eyes. She was so close he could feel her breath, warm against his skin. "Right now, tipsy looks pretty good," he said, his voice husky. He smiled and reached his hand up from where it lay on her hip, to brush some wayward curls away from her face. "In fact, it looks even better now."</p>
<p>Elizabeth watched his face light up as he smiled, revealing dimples so deep she suddenly felt the urge to touch them. Her hand reached up, touching his face and she saw his eyes close briefly. She let her fingers trail down his cheek, marvelling at how soft the skin was. When her thumb brushed against the corner of his lips, she hesitated wanting to explore further. His smile faltered and she felt his jaw tightening beneath her light touch. The small amount of air between them seemed to charge as they lay there, momentarily rooted to the spot. She brought her eyes back to his and found curiosity staring back at her. When the cold water lapped at their feet, curiosity gave way to shock and they found themselves spurred into action, scrambling back up the beach. Laughing, they helped each other up and started to brush themselves off.</p>
<p>"Well, that's certainly one way to sober up fast," Elizabeth said.</p>
<p>He grunted and carried on patting himself down. When he was finished he looked up to see Elizabeth watching him. "You want to head back or walk on a little?" he ventured.</p>
<p>She closed her eyes briefly and inhaled sea air deep into her lungs. This place was a world apart from Chicago and she wasn't ready for it to end just yet. "Walk on, I think," she said softly.</p>
<p>He grinned and nodded. Still feeling giddy and wine-emboldened, he held out his hand to her. "Wouldn't want you falling in...again."</p>
<p>She smiled and slipped her hand into his. "No, that we wouldn't."</p>
<p>They set of walking again, holding hands, wading through the water. They walked for a few more minutes and then wandered over to a nearby dune and sat facing the ocean, watching as the moon snaked across it, slicing a shimmering path. Clouds would roll over, temporarily planting them into darkness, then move away just as sudden, for silver light to spill all around them once more, casting shadows. "It's breathtaking, isn't it?" she said.</p>
<p>He glanced his eyes towards her face, as a cloud gave way again, and the moon peeked through, bright and shining, lightning up her face, radiating her.</p>
<p>"Yes," he said, never taking his eyes away from her the whole time.</p>
<p>"God, it feels like a whole different world," she sighed, and hugged her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. The temperature was beginning to drop and the ocean breeze skipped up chilling her skin, especially where the wet clothing clung to her. Elizabeth let herself lean against him, and he wrapped his right arm tightly around her, hugging her closer to him.</p>
<p>"Sorry, I'm heat thieving again, aren't I?" she said.</p>
<p>"Anytime," he said, resting his head against hers and they continued to sit together like that, watching the waves. He took a deep breath of sea air into his lungs, and closed his eyes, listening intently to the sound of the waves, to her breathing, to his breathing, to the distant music, voices and laughter of others. This was a moment he never wanted to forget.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tick-tock, tick-tock. On and on it went, regular as...well, as clockwork. Tick, bloody, tock. Incessantly loud, breaking the silence as she lay awake staring up at the ceiling.</p>
<p>Tick-tock, tick-tock. Driving her crazy. Eroding her patience. Ramping up her annoyance. Accentuating the passing of time, of every minute, of every hour that she was not sleeping. She squeezed her eyes shut once again, and once again she saw him, saw them.</p>
<p>She saw his eyes drifting to her lips and just as quickly moving off again...but not quickly enough. She'd seen it, she'd noticed. Maybe it had been the wine. Maybe the body heat they'd created as they'd laid there together. Maybe it had been the moonlight spilling all around them. Maybe it was the feeling of freedom that came from being in a strange place where no-one knew her, knew them. Maybe it was the feeling of his face in her hand as her fingers traced down his cheek to his lips. It was almost magical and she wanted to stop the clock, stop time and bottle the moment forever, but tick-tock, tick-tock, time marched on. She reached for the vacant pillow next to her and stuffed it over her head to mute the noise. Whiffs of sandalwood and black pepper assailed her senses, reminding her of him and she breathed it, breathed him, deep into her lungs. The pillow only reinforced the fact she was alone, and she launched it at the clock.</p>
<p>She missed, but succeeded in toppling over the glass of water sat next to it on the table, spilling its contents over the floor.</p>
<p>Tick-tock, tick-tock. She cursed the hands of time and got up to deal with it.</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>"What a complete and utter waste of my time! A first year med student could've told you this wasn't even remotely a surgical candidate!"</p>
<p>Greg Pratt openly scowled at her over the patient, as Elizabeth gave him a dressing down with both barrels of her fury. Haleh wisely chose to keep her head down, busying herself with blood pressure readings as Abby slipped quietly from the room.</p>
<p>"In future, I suggest you do your actual job before wasting my time!" Elizabeth finished her rant, turned on her heel and left, banging hard on the double doors to part them, with far more force than necessary.</p>
<p>Haleh, blew air through her lips and smirked. "Well, that's you told."</p>
<p>"What the hell's her problem!?" Pratt snarled as he watched her leave. "Time of the month screwing with her brain? Bring back Romano I say! At least he didn't have..."</p>
<p>Haleh's head shot up and fixed him with a warning glare. She shook her head very slowly at him and he rolled his eyes upwards. Ripping off his gloves, he muttered something under his breath and stalked out off the trauma room. Elizabeth was now stood by the reception desk talking to Susan Lewis and he headed over towards them.</p>
<p>"Oh, you look like hell!" Susan said to Elizabeth.</p>
<p>"Well, thank you very much!" she snapped.</p>
<p>"Heey," Susan said, holding up submissive hands in front of her. "Don't bite my head off!"</p>
<p>"Sorry," Elizabeth muttered. "I didn't get much sleep last night."</p>
<p>"Doctor Corday?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth bristled at the voice and turned to see Pratt staring at her. "What do you want now?!" she said impatiently.</p>
<p>He looked briefly to Susan for support and finding none, turned his head back to Elizabeth. "I didn't appreciate being spoken to, the way you just did back there…"</p>
<p>"Didn't you?" she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Well then, allow me to explain it to you once again in words that you can understand! Do Your Job Before Wasting My Time. Now, grow up and go away!"</p>
<p>Susan swallowed her laughter at Pratt's expression, but Frank was not so diplomatic and snorted loudly. Pratt glowered at him, then puffed himself up with indignation, and stepped forward into her personal space. He opened his mouth to speak, but Elizabeth stepped forward herself and pointed a finger in his face. "I would advise you to think very, very carefully before you open your mouth!"</p>
<p>Susan stepped in and shoved the clipboard she was holding into Pratt's hands. "Curtain three...go now!" Then she grabbed Elizabeth's arm. "C'mon, lets go get you a coffee," she said, steering them towards the Doctor's lounge.</p>
<p>"I think maybe, you're spending too much time with Romano, Elizabeth! You're beginning to sound like him!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth blew out some air and sighed heavily. "Sorry," she said, running a hand over her face.</p>
<p>"So what's up?"</p>
<p>"I guess I'm just a little wired at the moment. What with idiots like Pratt, and all the extra paperwork and bull shit that comes along with Chief of Surgery, I didn't get much sleep last night."</p>
<p>"You need to relax."</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded in agreement. "I know," she sighed, and then instantly brightened as an idea came to her. "Hey, do you fancy coming round to mine tonight. We can have a girls night in and have a proper catch-up?"</p>
<p>Susan's face twisted with regret. "I already agreed to drinks with the girls afterwards, but hey, why don't you come with us? You look like you need to blow off some steam. What'd you say?"</p>
<p>"I'd have to get a babysitter..."</p>
<p>"Can't you ask Romano?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shook her head. "No, he's in L.A all week," she grumbled.</p>
<p>"Ahh," Susan said, and wondered if that fact was in fact, the real source of her bad mood. "Well then, ask Kris to watch Ella a bit longer. We'll go out with the others and then you can cry off when you need to leave. How's that sound?"</p>
<p>It sounded perfect and she said so.</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>Elizabeth could hardly hear herself think over the noise. The bar was packed, and you had to practically yell to be heard over the music. It was exactly the distraction Elizabeth needed. Robert was away having a check up with Doctor Symons and sneaking in a longer visit to his sister, as his niece was also going to be there. Elizabeth had thought she was going to enjoy some quiet time in the house, but had soon discovered it was overrated. Susan returned to the table with another round of margarita's, and a coke for Abby. They all reached forward and grabbed the glasses.</p>
<p>"Cheers!"</p>
<p>"Bottoms up!"</p>
<p>"So what's going on with you and Carter then, Abby?" Elizabeth asked. "Luka said he's thinking of going to Africa with him?"</p>
<p>An unhappy Abby, clearly not wanting to talk about it, shrugged and decided to change the subject. "Nothings decided yet. What about you Susan?"</p>
<p>Susan looked up from her drink. "What about me?"</p>
<p>"How's your love life?"</p>
<p>"What!" she spluttered, raising her hand in time to catch the margarita she spat out.</p>
<p>Abby smirked above the rim of her glass. "Gone on any more blind dates?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled as Chuny and Haleh sniggered.</p>
<p>"No, no more blind dates for me, and definitely no more vegans!" Susan said, then gamely sighed over dramatically. "In fact, I think I'm destined to die all alone...all the good ones are definitely taken. Or, maybe I should just lower my expectations? Hey, do you think if I drink enough of these," she said, raising her glass. "Maybe even Frank will look attractive?"</p>
<p>A chorus of, "Ewww!" rang out as they all screwed up their faces and started laughing.</p>
<p>Chuny giggled. "Well if we're going there...has anyone else noticed Romano of late?"</p>
<p>All eyes turned towards her and she looked a little embarrassed. She waved her hand dismissively. "Doesn't matter. Forget I said anything."</p>
<p>"No, no...go on," they egged her on.</p>
<p>"Well...I mean, is it just me, or is Romano looking a bit buff these days?"</p>
<p>"Oh, it ain't just you," Haleh said cheekily and proceeded to slurp from her glass loudly.</p>
<p>Elizabeth's mouth fell open.</p>
<p>Over the last few months, he'd been working out more with the new physical therapy, but also discovered a love of tai-chi. His regular trips out to California, had also coloured his skin nicely and he was looking fit and healthy. The fact other people were noticing took her by complete surprise though.</p>
<p>"Hey, maybe you should ask him out Susan?" Abby said, smiling mischievously.</p>
<p>Susan flicked her eyes in Elizabeth's direction and smiled slyly. "Why not? He's actually not bad looking..."</p>
<p>Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink.</p>
<p>Openly grinning now, Susan continued. "You knooow…he nearly asked me out once."</p>
<p>It was Elizabeth's turn to spit out margarita, as a chorus of surprised 'What?!' and 'When?!' rang out.</p>
<p>Susan leaned back into her chair, holding court and grinned playfully. "Yeah. When I first started back at County we had some fun conversations and I liked his sense of humour."</p>
<p>"Yeah, yeah," Abby waved her hand. "Get to the part where he nearly asks you out!"</p>
<p>"Well we were kinda stood flirting with each other by the admit desk one day, and he was telling me he was in the 'Polar Bear Club'. He said I should try it and I think he was going to ask me to go with him...but then Kerry came over and started being all Kerryficious, and what can I say? The moment was lost." She pouted for effect.</p>
<p>"So, he never actually asked you out?" Elizabeth established.</p>
<p>Susan laughed. "Why? Jealous?"</p>
<p>"Don't be ridiculous," Elizabeth said snootily.</p>
<p>Chuny, Abby and Haleh exchanged a knowing glance and giggled.</p>
<p>Fortunately for Elizabeth, she was saved further embarrassment as a new song started and Chuny stood up. "Oh, I love this! Who wants to dance?"</p>
<p>Abby and Haleh got up and Susan started to rise too. She looked at Elizabeth. "Are you coming?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shook her head and glanced at her watch. "No, I really should get going and relieve Kris. I only intended to stay for a couple of drinks."</p>
<p>"Well, at least stay and finish your drink before you go," Susan said, sitting back down.</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled and nodded.</p>
<p>"I'll be up for the next one," Susan said and waved to the others, who nodded and left for the dance floor. She turned back to Elizabeth. "So Romano seems to be getting a handle on things."</p>
<p>Elizabeth lowered her glass. "What do you mean by that?"</p>
<p>"Just, exactly that. He seems happier of late. And he's certainly playing nicer with others….I even heard the nurses saying he's doing a good job with the changes he's brought in. Actually listened to their concerns and actually tried to address them. They're impressed."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled pleased to learn that his efforts were not only being noticed, but appreciated too.</p>
<p>"So, how are you two?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Oh, c'mon don't play coy with me. He's happy, you're happy...you're basically living together. Are you still trying to tell me that nothing is going on between the two of you?"</p>
<p>"That's precisely what I'm telling you...and we are not basically living together. In fact, I'd say we spend less time together now since he had his surgery."</p>
<p>"That was over two months ago?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded. "Yeah."</p>
<p>"How come?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shrugged. "I guess he's just busier than he was before. He's taken more of an interest in work and between the new PT, and his newfound love of tai-chi, I suppose he doesn't have as much free time."</p>
<p>"Tai chi?" Susan laughed. "Somehow, I can't picture him doing anything like that!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled proudly. "You should see him...he's really very graceful," she said, and Susan watched as her face took on a strange, almost dreamy expression. She closed her eyes and recalled the morning she'd woken earlier than usual, surprised to see him not lying beside her. She'd figured Ella must have got him up and went off in search of them, but then spotted Ella still sleeping as she passed her room. As she descended the steps, a warm breeze drifted up to meet her and she realised the French doors must be open. She knew he must be out the back, and had carried on to confirm, but the sight that greeted her had stopped her dead in her tracks.</p>
<p>Robert was on the decking doing something quite magical. That's all she could think of to describe it. She watched transfixed, as he moved in slow, deliberate, precise movements. He seemed to glide as he turned and stretched in an an intricate, well-rehearsed dance. Wearing only black shorts, she could see each muscle as they strained, and flexed. He'd slide his foot, transfer his weight, shift and change direction. His arms moved gracefully through the air in one direction, as his legs lowered and extended in another. More balance, more shift, a new direction and she found herself stepping out of sight behind the drape, feeling a little voyeuristic, but equally not wanting to stop watching.</p>
<p>He'd carried a few extra pounds after his injury, but even then she would never have described him as unfit. Since their return from California though, he'd been invigorated. Buoyed up by the new prognosis, he'd started jogging again, and she remembered his enthusiastic excitement when he'd learned his new occupational therapist practised Tai Chi. Together, they had come up with an adapted version and this was obviously the result. He was looking lean and bulked out in all the right places. The morning sun lit up his skin, which was glistening by now under his labours. It screamed masculinity and yet she knew it be soft, and she'd wanted to reach out, to touch it, to touch him….</p>
<p>"Earth to Elizabeth!" Susan said, waving a hand in front of Elizabeth's eyes.</p>
<p>She blinked and shook her head bringing herself back to the now. She found Susan watching her with a bemused grin.</p>
<p>"Well, all of that sounds to me like he's getting himself fixed up at last. So why do you look like your kitten just died?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth sighed heavily. "I don't know. I can't really put my finger on it, but its since he started therapy. He just seems a little...distant?"</p>
<p>Both of Susan's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Wait, rewind….Romano's in therapy?!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth groaned and cursed herself. "Oh, God! You mustn't say anything Susan! Promise me!"</p>
<p>"Of course I wont say anything...but Elizabeth, its a good thing, right? I'm just amazed you got him to agree to it!"</p>
<p>"I didn't," she said quietly. "It was his new doctor."</p>
<p>Susan looked sceptical. "Oh, I think you'll find you had more to do with it than you think."</p>
<p>"What do you mean?"</p>
<p>"I mean he's doing it to make you happy."</p>
<p>"No, it means he wanted the new treatment and it was obligatory."</p>
<p>"So, is it helping?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded. "I think so. He stays over a lot less now, but when he has, he's not woken me up...so he must be sleeping through."</p>
<p>"You really miss him don't you?" Susan said. It was more of a statement than a question.</p>
<p>Elizabeth would normally close this conversation down now and change the subject, but the truth of the matter was, she didn't want to. She needed this, needed to talk about him, and these feelings she'd been developing for him of late. She nodded and sighed heavily. When she looked up, she saw Susan watching her closely. "Am I being silly?</p>
<p>"Why would it be silly? You're here, he's over there and you miss him. Don't you think its time you told him?"</p>
<p>"What, that I miss him?" Elizabeth snorted. "No, thank you, his ego is big enough already."</p>
<p>Susan grinned. "True, but that's not actually what I meant. I mean, tell him that you want to be more then friends?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth's eyes widened.</p>
<p>"Oh, spare me the wide-eyed shock. Do you or don't you?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth closed her eyes. Was it that obvious? She nodded. "I think so, yes."</p>
<p>"So then tell him."</p>
<p>"I can't."</p>
<p>Susan shook her head. "Of course you can. Boy meets girl, girl asks boy out…it's really not that difficult."</p>
<p>"It's really not that simple," she countered.</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"Because, we both agreed when we started this friendship that neither of us wanted anything more than that."</p>
<p>"Yeah, but that's because you were both damaged and in bad places at the time. You were still grieving over Mark, and you've told me Robert wasn't coping very well?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded.</p>
<p>"Well that's not the case any more is it? Somehow you've managed to help heal each other and you're both happy. To any casual observer who saw you guys together, they'd have to be forgiven for thinking you weren't already together. So tell him that you've changed your mind and that you now have feelings for him."</p>
<p>Elizabeth shook her head. "I'm just not convinced he'd be willing to jeopardise our friendship to start something."</p>
<p>"One, he's a man, so duh," Susan counted off on her fingers. "And two, don't you think he at least should be given the choice?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth shrugged and Susan decided to try another tack. "You must have some idea of how he'd react. In all the time that you two have spent together...have there never been any slip-ups? Not caught any looks of longing when he thinks you're not looking? Not accidentally bumped into you just so he could touch you?"</p>
<p>"You're making fun of us now."</p>
<p>"No, I'm not. Has he seriously never tried to kiss you?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth closed her eyes and smiled fondly, as she transported herself back to that moonlit beach from months ago.</p>
<p>When she opened her eyes, she found Susan scrutinizing her. "Well, that was a lengthy pause."</p>
<p>"He's never tried to kiss me, but…"</p>
<p>"But?"</p>
<p>"We did have a 'moment' once."</p>
<p>Susan grinned and punched the air with her fist. "I knew it! Go on then...details."</p>
<p>Elizabeth breathed in deeply and blew out the air slowly. "It was when I went to LA with him for the consultation. We'd gone out to dinner afterwards to celebrate the news, and well, its a cliché I'm afraid... we had too much to drink and there was a moment where I thought he might kiss me."</p>
<p>"But he didn't?"</p>
<p>She shook her head.</p>
<p>"And if he had?"</p>
<p>"Ifs, don't matter because he won't cross that line Susan."</p>
<p>"Even though, he may want to and even though, you may want him to?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded. "He'd be scared of my reaction...of the possibility of losing me and Ella and he won't take that risk."</p>
<p>"So then you need to remove the risk for him. Tell him you're attracted to him...I mean you are attracted to him, right?" she said, wiggling her eyebrows for effect.</p>
<p>"Well, I know you are!" Elizabeth snorted.</p>
<p>Susan laughed. "I knew that made you jealous! So, answer the question Elizabeth...Do You Find Robert Romano Attractive?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth grinned at her but refused to answer.</p>
<p>"Fine, be like that but I already know the answer. Let me ask you a different question. What if Robert meets someone else, falls in love with them even...what would you do then? Would you be happy for him and send him on his way, or would you be upset...jealous?"</p>
<p>"I, err...I'd be happy that he's happy and I wouldn't want to lose our friendship."</p>
<p>"Elizabeth."</p>
<p>"Okay, fine! I guess, theoretically I would be jealous."</p>
<p>"Because…"</p>
<p>"I'm not playing this game any more."</p>
<p>"Well, then, it seems to me you're going to both carry on as you are until he meets someone new...and he will meet someone, Elizabeth, trust me on this. When even the likes of Chuny and Haleh, who know better than most, just how bad he can be, are now noticing him? He's an attractive, eligible doctor and with this whole new life thing he's working on at the moment, he's not going to be short of women wanting to give him their numbers...unless you tell him how you feel first."</p>
<p>Elizabeth looked down at her hands. She'd never even considered the possibility of him meeting someone else and it reflected in her face.</p>
<p>Susan smiled triumphantly. "So to recap...he won't make a move because he doesn't want to risk losing you, which means if you want things to change, you're going to have to be the one that starts it...what would he do if you just kissed him?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth's ego answered her in less than a nanosecond. "He'd probably kiss me back."</p>
<p>Susan sat back in her chair and folded her arms smugly across her chest. "Case and point. The defence rests."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Moments. Life is made up of them; good ones, bad ones, big ones, little ones, some mundane, some life changing. In his experience, it's the little ones you have to watch for because little moments like to blow up into big moments. Take one careless moment for example. That moment gets you your arm sliced off, and weirdly leads you to another moment where the woman, you just happen to be in love with, welcomes you into her life. And in turn, that moment leads you to a moonlit beach and a drunken stumble, which leads to the moment you find the lips of the woman you adore just a whisper away from yours. That's the moment he nearly kissed her and that's the moment he would've lost her. One more moment of momentary weakness he'd promised her would never happen again. Fortunately for him, that was the moment his head won the battle between heart and mind.</p>
<p>He tried to focus, but all he could think about was Elizabeth and that almost kiss. He inhaled deeply through his nose, exhaled slowly through the mouth. Find peace, find centre, don't think of anything else, don't think about her. Don't think about what her lips would have felt like against his, of how they would have tasted…</p>
<p>He kicked himself mentally and refocused, pushing his body harder, driving his feet faster.</p>
<p>"Jeezus Rob, will you slow down!"</p>
<p>In response, Robert increased his pace a notch more.</p>
<p>"Ass hole!" Tess wheezed, as she tried to keep up with him. How she'd let him drag her out on a run with him was beyond her.</p>
<p>She gave up even trying to keep pace and watched as he gained ground and disappeared out of view. By the time she rounded the corner to her house, he was sat by her open front door with two bottles of water.</p>
<p>She collapsed in a heap next to him and swiped the proffered bottle. "I hate you."</p>
<p>He grinned and tipped his bottle of water back, draining most of the contents.</p>
<p>She mirrored his movements and paused to get her breath back. "I mean, are you training for the Chicago marathon or something? Go for a quick run you said. Be good for you, you said! Look at me! Do I look good?!"</p>
<p>Robert laughed. "You look...red."</p>
<p>"Yeah, well you can go by yourself next time."</p>
<p>"No pain, no gain sis."</p>
<p>She pulled a childish face and drank some more water. "So is all this running about getting fit or are you just running off tension?"</p>
<p>"What do you mean?" he asked.</p>
<p>She swivelled round to face him. "Is everything okay with you and Elizabeth?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Why'd you ask?"</p>
<p>"She called for you last night when you were out self-flagellating."</p>
<p>"When I was what?"</p>
<p>"You like to refer to it as running. What we just did?" she said still out of breath. "That was not running."</p>
<p>"Why are you only just telling me now?"</p>
<p>"I forgot, and figured you'd call her anyhow...which you did, right?"</p>
<p>He nodded. "Still, no excuse."</p>
<p>"Anyhow, we had a little chat."</p>
<p>Robert poured the rest of the water from his bottle over his head and shook his head. "Yeah?"</p>
<p>She moved to the side to avoid being splashed. "Did you know she's worried about you?"</p>
<p>This was news to Robert. "No. Why would she be worried?"</p>
<p>"She says you've been a little distant with her. That you don't spend as much time with her and Ella."</p>
<p>"That's not true."</p>
<p>"Which bit?"</p>
<p>"All of it."</p>
<p>Tess raised an eyebrow and looked sceptical.</p>
<p>"I mean, alright, I'm not there everyday."</p>
<p>"You don't sleep there any more?"</p>
<p>He looked uncomfortable and started stretching his leg muscles out. "Not as much."</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"It's this stupid therapists fault!"</p>
<p>"The stupid therapist who's helping you get a normal nights sleep, every night? That stupid therapist?"</p>
<p>"Shut up."</p>
<p>"Why is it his fault then?"</p>
<p>"He basically said I've been using Elizabeth as a safety net, especially at night. Said I needed to withdraw myself gradually, until I don't need the net any more. So yeah, I've been staying at mine more, but Lizzie's never said anything to me, so I figured she was happy about it. Getting her house back..."</p>
<p>"Just a thought Rob, but have you explained any of this to Elizabeth?"</p>
<p>He shook his head. "Why?"</p>
<p>Tess stared at him aghast. "Are you stupid?"</p>
<p>Robert looked at her puzzled, and held out his hands. "What?"</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes at him. "Think about it Rob. You've more a less spent the best part of a year in each others pockets. She's looked out for you; she's slept next to you so that you can sleep and been there for you when you can't. She trusts you to take care of her daughter, and allowed you to get close to Ella...and then all of a sudden, poof, you stop staying over, you spend less time with them, and all with no explanation. Hasn't she asked you what's going on?"</p>
<p>"No," he said quietly, and glanced over at her. "I figured she was happy with it. I mean, she doesn't want to babysit me for the rest of her life."</p>
<p>Tess just shook her head at him. "You know, for someone so clever Rob, you're actually quite dumb. Think about that," she said and painfully climbed to her feet. "I'm going for a shower."</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>Elizabeth put the phone back in its cradle and walked back into the kitchen. Robert had just called to say his flight was delayed, so suddenly she found her morning freed up, and she found herself at a momentary loss for what to do. Out of sheer boredom she decided to do the breakfast dishes, then head in to work early to get on top of some paperwork. She removed her ring to do the washing up and automatically picked it up afterwards to put it back on. She didn't make it that far however and looked down at where it lay, staring up at her from her open palm. She remembered looking down at it just as she was now, the night Robert had retrieved it for her. Back then, she had been clinging on to Mark and the memory of him for dear life. She brought it up to her lips and kissed it gently. Mark was gone and he was never coming back, and while that thought saddened her still, it no longer consumed her. It was time, she realised to let him go and move on with her life.</p>
<p>This ring, ironically is what brought her and Robert together, and now she thought its probably what is stopping us from being together.</p>
<p>She walked upstairs to her bedroom and opened the dresser drawer. Reaching inside, she removed the box that lay there and placed the ring inside. One day, she would give it to Ella, but for now it would remain safely there, in the dresser, waiting for its new owner. It didn't belong to her any more.</p>
<p>888888888888</p>
<p>"So make sure every second year resident gets one each," Elizabeth said as she handed over a pile of papers to Shirley. "Move up the Jackson surgery to tomorrow at one. Edson can assist."</p>
<p>Shirley nodded. "Anything else?"</p>
<p>"If Doctor Romano calls for me, can you let him know I'm stuck in surgery and can't make lunch?"</p>
<p>"He's back today?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded, trying not to appear too pleased by that fact. His delayed flight meant she couldn't collect him, so she'd missed out on the 'catch-up' that the car journey would have afforded them.</p>
<p>"How's he doing?" Shirley asked.</p>
<p>Elizabeth regarded her for a brief second and smiled. Shirley whilst a terrible gossip, had for some unfathomable reason, a soft spot for Robert and seemed to genuinely care how he was doing. But then she reasoned, it can't be that unfathomable; she herself cared very deeply, so its not like it was an isolated case. Susan's words of wisdom from the other day came back reinforcing to her, that she alone was not the only one who took note of Robert.</p>
<p>"Much better," she said. "His new doctor is very pleased with his progress."</p>
<p>"That's good," Shirley said, smiling. "He was a pain in the ass, but he was our pain in the ass, if you know what I mean."</p>
<p>Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, I can relate to that."</p>
<p>"Hellllo, Doctor Corday."</p>
<p>Elizabeth exchanged a look with Shirley, before turning to see Edward Dorsett standing there, grinning.</p>
<p>"What can I do for you Doctor Dorsett?" she said, trying to sound bored.</p>
<p>He took a second to look her over, then smiled what she supposed he thought was a roguish smile.</p>
<p>"Coffee, lunch...dinner. Pick one, or maybe take all three?"</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes and heard Shirley snigger into her hand.</p>
<p>"C'mon, Elizabeth...don't make me beg in front of Shirley," he said, in his most charming voice.</p>
<p>"Doctor Dorsett," she said, her voice strictly professional. "Thank you, but no thank you."</p>
<p>"Rain check it is, then.."</p>
<p>She grumbled and turned her back on him to face Shirley, but could still feel his presence hovering.</p>
<p>"I will wear you down, Elizabeth," he said in a silky voice. "Until then." He touched her hip briefly as he left and she stared at his departing back incredulous. "Did he really just do that?!"</p>
<p>"He's a terrible flirt! Cute though," Shirley said.</p>
<p>"And he knows it. It also ceased to be cute after the fourth time I said no."</p>
<p>"Oh dear," Shirley laughed. "I take by that, you're definitely not interested then?"</p>
<p>"In him? Certainly not! He's not my type...far too smarmy!"</p>
<p>Shirley smiled. "So is there someone who is your type, that you're interested in?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "It was just a figure of speech, Shirley."</p>
<p>"I know, but I'm serious though. You've got to put yourself back out there at some point, Doctor Corday."</p>
<p>Elizabeth tapped the desk with both hands. "Maybe, just not today."</p>
<p>88888888888</p>
<p>Robert's day was going from bad to worse. First his flight back to Chicago was delayed by three hours. That resulted in Elizabeth being unable to collect him, which led to him having to get a cab with a driver who had clearly never heard of deodorant before. All of this made him late for his meeting with the board, which meant he had to go straight to the hospital. Once he'd paid the driver and saw the state of affairs with the E.R he wished he'd stayed in California.</p>
<p>The E.R had been gutted. That's the only way he could think of to describe it. Shit everywhere, patients everywhere, workman everywhere. It was a health and safety lawsuit waiting to happen. He looked around him in despair and winced when heard the not so dulcet tones of Kerry Weaver. He followed the shrill noise around the corner only to see her bashing on the base of a workman's ladder with her cane.</p>
<p>"Welcome back to the asylum." He turned to see Susan grinning at him holding two cups of coffee. "Here, you're gonna need this," she said and thrust one of the cups at him. He dumped his holdall onto the floor.</p>
<p>"How long has it been like this?" he yelled over the noise.</p>
<p>"Four days!"</p>
<p>He could feel his ire boiling and yelled. "KERRY!"</p>
<p>Kerry turned around, and her eyes widened when she saw him.</p>
<p>"One job! I left you one job!" he yelled. "Supervise and expedite improvements to the ER! This looks like a friggin war zone! Carter probably thinks he's back in Africa!"</p>
<p>"He's not wrong there," muttered John who had wandered over to Susan. They were quickly joined in the cheap seats by Frank and Jerry, who were both grinning. Frank seemed especially pleased to witness Kerry being yelled at for once.</p>
<p>"Robert! It's not my fault! They were supposed to start Monday on a gradual basis. Instead they started Tuesday evening and started ripping it all out at once!"</p>
<p>"Well, where the hell were you?! Why didn't you stop them!"</p>
<p>"I have to sleep, Robert!"</p>
<p>"God-damn it! Who's allegedly in charge of this bunch?"</p>
<p>She pointed down at the pale, spotty, all but exposed bottom of a large man, whose upper half was concealed underneath the counter.</p>
<p>Robert kicked the man's foot. "Hey, moonshine!"</p>
<p>The man's bottom half quickly moved to reveal an angry head.</p>
<p>"Did you just kick me?</p>
<p>"Yes I did. If you're in charge of this motley crew follow me. Kerry, you too!" With that he picked up his holdall and started walking, stopped suddenly and turned around. "Where's the friggin lounge gone?!"</p>
<p>Susan started laughing as did the others and he turned to face them. They quickly splintered off in various directions before they became collateral damage.</p>
<p>88888888888</p>
<p>Robert spent the rest of the day, cleaning up the mess in the ER and putting out various other fires. Before he knew it, it was past six in the evening, and he went off in search of Elizabeth.</p>
<p>He stepped onto the surgical floor, swept it quickly with his eyes and made a beeline for the oracle that is Shirley.</p>
<p>"Hey Shirley, do you know if Doctor Corday is still on?"</p>
<p>She looked up, smiling at him. "Hi, Doctor Romano. Good to see you back. Heard you're having a nightmare time down in the ER?"</p>
<p>"You heard right. I'm surprised that A, I haven't killed anyone and B, I still have a voice. So is Doctor Cor…"</p>
<p>"I think she's in the lounge," she said cutting him off.</p>
<p>He nodded his thanks and started to step off when she spoke again.</p>
<p>"Actually, I think she may need saving."</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"Doctor Dorsett is shall we say, actively pursuing her and he's not exactly taking no for an answer. I think he went in there right after her."</p>
<p>"Is that right?" he said, getting pissed now.</p>
<p>Shirley watched disappointed as instead of tearing off to the lounge like she thought he'd do, he turned in the opposite direction and headed for his office. However she looked up again when he re-emerged a minute later and headed back in her direction. She then looked towards the surgeons lounge, as the door opened to reveal Elizabeth exiting followed by Dorsett.</p>
<p>They all reconvened right in front of her and Shirley gave thanks to the gossip Gods for her front seat.</p>
<p>Elizabeth's face lit up upon seeing Robert and broke into a broad smile. "Robert, you're back!"</p>
<p>"Hey Lizzie," he said, returning her infectious smile. He let it slip as he acknowledged the other surgeon. "Dorsett."</p>
<p>"Doctor Romano."</p>
<p>"Were you looking for me?" Elizabeth asked, hopefully.</p>
<p>"Looking for Eddie here, actually."</p>
<p>The tall surgeon straightened up with self-importance. "Let me guess? You are in need of my fast skills to save the day?"</p>
<p>"Nope. Just feel the need to give you some required reading. Here." He said and thrust a heavy manual into Dorsett's hands.</p>
<p>The tall surgeon looked down at his hands. "What's this?"</p>
<p>"That would be this hospitals policy on sexual harassment in the workplace...I suggest you acquaint yourself with it."</p>
<p>Shirley snickered and Elizabeth eyed the two men carefully as they sized each other up. Edward looked at her with a smarmy face, still fancying his chances. "Does it say anything in here, about sexual harassment outside of the workplace?"</p>
<p>"It does not," Robert said, and held out the other file in his hand. "Pretty sure that one does though."</p>
<p>Edward cocked an eyebrow and made an elaborate show of opening it. His expression soon changed when he saw what it was.</p>
<p>"One call should do it," Robert said.</p>
<p>Dorsett closed the file and looked at Romano. "Well, okay then. Best behaviour henceforth, it is," he said, and left without a backwards glance.</p>
<p>Elizabeth and Shirley watched him go. "Robert, what was in the second file?"</p>
<p>He looked at the pair of them. "Just his personnel file."</p>
<p>They both looked at him confused. "I don't get it," Elizabeth said.</p>
<p>"I'd highlighted a certain box for him...his emergency contact number happens to be his wife."</p>
<p>"Edward's married?!" Elizabeth spluttered.</p>
<p>Several other nurses heads shot up at this information.</p>
<p>"At present, yes, he is very much married. Listen, Lizzie, have you got time for a quick coffee?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth nodded, and they walked back towards the surgeons lounge.</p>
<p>"Hope you don't think I was interfering but Shirley said he'd been hassling you?"</p>
<p>"It's nothing I couldn't handle," she said. "He keeps trying his luck, asking me out, but I think it's more a point of principle for him...I suspect he's not used to rejection. How long have you known he was married?"</p>
<p>"I err, might have made some discreet enquiries the first time he asked you out. If I'd known he was still hassling you, I'd have told you."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled knowingly at him. Whether he'd done it due to jealousy or protectiveness towards her, she didn't mind. He'd had her back.</p>
<p>"Exactly how many times has he asked you out then?"</p>
<p>"Enough, for him to know better. He said he wanted to save me from myself...that its time for me to get back out there and start dating again. At least on that count I think he has a point."</p>
<p>He stopped walking. "What are you saying? You're ready to start dating again?"</p>
<p>She breathed in and smiled. "Yes, I am...just not with him."</p>
<p>Robert nodded. Pleased that she wasn't interested in Dorsett, but anxious that she would soon be seeing other guys. It had always just been a matter of time he reasoned and opened the door of the lounge, holding it open for her.</p>
<p>"Got your eye on anyone, in particular?"</p>
<p>"I think so," she said, looking pointedly at him as she stepped past him into the lounge. He missed the look however, as he turned and closed the door.</p>
<p>Robert nodded, disappointed. "Lucky guy," he said, and walked over to the sideboard to gather his thoughts, busying himself filling two cups of coffee. He walked them over to where Elizabeth was seated and held out a cup to her. She reached up with both of her hands and he passed it to her.</p>
<p>"What?" she asked when he remained standing and she followed his eyes to her hands.</p>
<p>"You're not wearing your ring?"</p>
<p>"No."</p>
<p>"Since when?"</p>
<p>"Does it matter? The point is I'm not any more."</p>
<p>Of course it matters, he thought! First she tells me she's ready to start dating again, then that she's got her eye on someone and now she's taken off her ring! Could his day get any worse? He sat down feeling defeated, like he'd had the wind kicked out of him. He'd always known the day would come when she'd meet someone else, but it didn't make the pill any less easier to swallow. Still, he resolved, he certainly didn't want to lose their friendship. She meant too much to him to lose altogether so he guessed he'd just have to go with it and see what happens.</p>
<p>She tried to read his face, but he wasn't giving much away and they both sipped some of their drinks, alone with their thoughts.</p>
<p>Robert broke the silence after a minute. "Earlier when you asked if I was looking for you," he said. "I was."</p>
<p>She looked up from her coffee cup and brightened. "Oh?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I wanted to clear something up before I leave for the night."</p>
<p>"You're not coming back to mine tonight?" she said, failing to keep the surprise out of her voice. "I thought we could grab pizza, and have a proper catch-up?"</p>
<p>"Nah, I wouldn't be much company," he said and offered her an apologetic smile. "I really need to get some serious sleep after the flight and the hellish day I've just had...and somehow I can't see Ella letting me off that lightly."</p>
<p>"Well, we wouldn't want to disappoint Ella would we?" she said in a disappointed tone, and blew on her coffee. "So, what did you want to 'clear up'?"</p>
<p>"You may have noticed lately, I've not been staying over as much, and I wanted to explain why."</p>
<p>"I had noticed," she said carefully, and Robert made a mental note to thank his sister.</p>
<p>"So, why is that?" she asked.</p>
<p>"It's not because I don't want to. I've loved spending time with you and Ella."</p>
<p>"Loved? Past tense?"</p>
<p>He shook his head and put his coffee down on the table next to him. "Love," he amended.</p>
<p>"So, what's the problem?" she asked, feeling a little better at his correction.</p>
<p>"It's not a problem, per se," he said. "Jenkins says.."</p>
<p>"Jenkins...he's your therapist, right?"</p>
<p>He nodded. "He suggested I need to start getting myself back to normal, whatever that is. Find my independence again, I suppose. So, I guess I've been trying to do that and not be such a burden to you.."</p>
<p>"Robert, you've never been a burden."</p>
<p>"Yeah, I think maybe the jury's out on that," he said, and gave her a small, sweet smile. "Anyhow, I think that in my efforts to do that, I may have come across as...I don't know...withdrawn?"</p>
<p>Well, she certainly wasn't going to argue with him on that point she thought, and nodded encouragement for him to continue.</p>
<p>"He says I have to stop using you as a 'safety net,' especially at nights."</p>
<p>She nodded again, understanding now. "Well, I've never been called that before," she said. "And is it working? The therapy? You seem to be having less nightmares these days."</p>
<p>He smiled at her. "As much as it pains me to say it, yes...you were right. It has helped."</p>
<p>She reached out for his hand. "Robert, that's great."</p>
<p>He squeezed her hand back. "I hope you know that you and Ella are very important to me. I really don't think I'd be here today without you both, and I don't want you thinking that as I get myself sorted, that I don't need you any more. I'm here today, in a good place all because of you."</p>
<p>"That goes both ways, Robert...the same can be said for me."</p>
<p>"I'm glad to hear that…"</p>
<p>"So why am I sensing a but?"</p>
<p>"I guess in light of what you've told me tonight, I could be stopping you from moving on though?"</p>
<p>"How'd you mean?"</p>
<p>"Well, you tell me you're ready to start dating again. Not going to be a good look, if I'm hanging around all the time, is it?"</p>
<p>Elizabeth opened her mouth to tell him she was ready to move on and wanted to do so with him, as the door to the lounge opened and Brenda appeared. Elizabeth cursed the timing as Robert quickly pulled his hand back away from hers.</p>
<p>"Oh Doctor Romano, good there you are! Doctor Weaver needs you downstairs...there's some new problem with one of the contractors."</p>
<p>He groaned and leaned back in the chair, covering his face with both hands. Sighing heavily he stood up. "Okay, tell her I'm on my way."</p>
<p>Brenda smiled apologetically, nodded and left.</p>
<p>Elizabeth reached up and caught his hand again. He looked utterly exhausted and she thought now was probably not the best time to bear her soul and drop another bombshell on him. Equally she didn't want to just let him go without fixing when she'd see him next. "Are you off tomorrow?"</p>
<p>His eyebrows shot upwards in disbelief. "I've just had a week off!"</p>
<p>"Of course...sorry, I wasn't thinking."</p>
<p>"I've gotta go Lizzie," he said squeezing her hand.</p>
<p>"Look you promised me you'd teach me tai-chi and I'm off tomorrow. Maybe you could come by in the morning and give me a lesson before you start work, and then let me treat you to lunch as a thank you?"</p>
<p>"As you know, I never turn down a free lunch," he grinned. "I warn you though, tai-chi lessons start very early in the morning."</p>
<p>"I'll be ready," she said.</p>
<p>"I can't guarantee I'll get away for lunch though. Kerry's management of the ER refurbishment is a monumental lesson in how not to."</p>
<p>"Oh," she said, disappointed.</p>
<p>"I can come round tomorrow evening though? I'll bring that pizza you wanted and I promise I'll sit quietly through whatever you want to watch."</p>
<p>"Quietly?" she scoffed.</p>
<p>"Scouts honour," he said, dropping her hand and giving a little salute.</p>
<p>"Were you ever a boy scout?"</p>
<p>"Nah...but I was a choirboy, that's gotta count for something."</p>
<p>"You were a choirboy?" she laughed as the door opened again.</p>
<p>Brenda reappeared with the phone in her hand. "Doctor Romano?"</p>
<p>"I'm coming!" he yelled.</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>Robert woke even earlier than usual, as seemed to be his new routine. He got up quietly, and quickly walked Gretel round the block. Once fed and watered, she was content enough to curl back up in a ball and sleep it off. He left a note for Diane, grabbed his gym bag and took off to Elizabeth's.</p>
<p>The house was still in darkness when he got there, so he used his key to let himself in and listened. Definitely nobody awake and he grinned not surprised. He got changed and started his morning exercises. He was mid way through his tai-chi routine when Elizabeth appeared. She was dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt.</p>
<p>"Sorry," she yawned. "Must have slept through the alarm."</p>
<p>Robert smiled in acknowledgement without breaking movement. "Did you even set one?"</p>
<p>"Of course," she lied. She really hadn't considered early meant early, early.</p>
<p>"Well, if you're still up for a lesson, why don't you do some warm up while I finish this set?"</p>
<p>"Okay," she said, dropping her yoga mat onto the decking. She watched fascinated at how fluidly he moved, almost gliding. She sat down and stretched out her legs, reached for her toes, her eyes still watching him. His muscles were taut, his body still clinging to the tan awarded to him from the Californian sun. Sweat glistened, pooled then dripped as he changed form. He was, she had to admit looking very good. He'd always had broad shoulders but the new weight regimen he was following had definitely buffed him up more.</p>
<p>Robert crouched, stretched out, came back up, rotated so he was now fully facing Elizabeth. She was sat stretching on the floor, watching him with a far away expression on her face. Looking directly at him. Not at his face. At him. He could be imagining it, but he was pretty sure she was checking him out. Those blue eyes had started at his feet, moved to his ankles, drifted to his calf's, hovered on his thighs, lingered on his abs and chest; then perused his arms, his shoulders...basically raked over his whole body. Her blue eyes eventually found their way up to find his brown ones starring back at her, and she quickly looked away, lowering her head, stretching towards her knee. Not before he caught sight of her cheeks, and the lovely flaming red tinge, colouring them before she did, confirming what he'd thought. He grinned like a Cheshire cat and transitioned into the next step. Yep, today was looking up already...Elizabeth Corday had just checked him out!</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Robert's earlier optimism about the day being a good one had quickly turned sour as soon as he'd arrived at work. The ER refurbishment was taking up almost all of his attention and Kerry seemed only too happy to have relinquished any and all responsibility regarding the project. After an hour of what he saw as avoidable chaos, he'd actually asked if she was feeling okay, only for her to burst into tears on him. Not wanting to deal with a wet Weaver on top of everything else, he'd told her to take a personal day and sort herself out.</p>
<p>Subsequently, his continued presence in the ER then led his minions to think he conveniently now worked there. He couldn't go more than five minutes without being asked stupid questions, or be bugged for his signature. This misguided belief was further reinforced after a gurney, on which Susan Lewis straddled a patient doing chest compressions, was pushed past him. She'd yelled out for his help and he'd found himself suddenly manhandled into the trauma room by Chuny, who had him gowned and gloved before he even knew what hit him. On reflex, he went to work, and when Anspaugh appeared minutes later, he thought he was in for it, but Donald had simply watched him at work. He'd correctly assessed the man required bypass surgery, and handed him off to Donald who signed off on the paperwork.</p>
<p>"Walk with me," Donald had said as Robert removed his gown and Robert felt a bollocking coming his way. Susan caught his eye, and mouthed what he supposed was a silent apology. They followed Malik, who pushed the gurney out off the trauma room towards the elevator and the elder surgeon turned to face Robert with his arms crossed.</p>
<p>"Thank you Malik, I can take him up from here."</p>
<p>Malik happily nodded and didn't look back as he quickly headed away from them.</p>
<p>"Look, I know I'm not cleared for consults, I just kind of got sucked into it," Robert started in his defence. "Don't worry, I don't have any delusions I'll be returning to surgery."</p>
<p>Donald help up a hand to stop him. "Relax Robert, that was good work in there."</p>
<p>"Oh. Err, thanks," he mumbled, surprised he wasn't getting a strip torn off him.</p>
<p>"You seem to be making excellent progress of late with your recovery. It's going well I take it?"</p>
<p>Robert tried to stop his eyebrows drifting upwards. "Yeah," he said and lifted his left hand up to form a fist, which he opened and closed again, wiggling the fingers. "Never going to be what is was, but I'm told 70% is a realistic outcome."</p>
<p>Donald nodded approvingly. "Well, while you're down here, I see no reason why you can't use your expertise, so long as you remember that fact."</p>
<p>The elevator doors opened and Robert helped push the gurney in. "I think we need to maybe have a chat. I'll schedule a meeting and get back to you," Donald said as the doors closed on him.</p>
<p>Robert stared at the closed doors and didn't move, not quite sure what to make of that. He sensed someone behind him and turned to find Susan standing there.</p>
<p>"Sorry," she said. "Did I land you in it?"</p>
<p>"You've landed me in something, I just don't know what that something is yet."</p>
<p>After that incident, they seemed to think he was fair game and sucked him into two more traumas. He didn't actually mind too much, secretly happy to actually do some doctoring, but he made sure to loudly communicate they were taking advantage of his good self. Upon extracting himself once again, he turned his attention back to the refurbishment and was pleasantly surprised to see Haleh had taken charge in his absence. A lot of the changes being made were a direct result of some excellent suggestions she'd made during the day he'd spent shadowing her. Obviously happy to see her vision taking shape, he figured she must see the remodel as her brainchild. He watched for another minute or so, noting how adept she was at harrying the workmen along in a more convivial manner than he himself could muster. A thin, temporary harmony had since settled over the ER.</p>
<p>"Haleh," he called out as he approached her, waving his hand to encompass the efficient bustle of activity going on around them. "How'd you do that?"</p>
<p>"I'm a mother of boys," she said, shrugging. "It's no different to getting them to tidy their rooms."</p>
<p>He grinned at her and swiped up a hard hat from off a nearby box. "Consider yourself deputised as my assistant," he said and placed the hat on her head.</p>
<p>"Ahemmm," she snorted, and crossed her arms. "And does that come with extra pay?"</p>
<p>"What? Where's your sense of duty?"</p>
<p>She smirked at him and raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>"Fine. I'll arrange a nice, fat bonus for you, but I want to see results. Deal?"</p>
<p>Haleh grinned and accepted his proffered hand. "Deal.</p>
<p>"Excellent," he said, pleased he'd now be able to steal away and meet Elizabeth. "Well in that case, I'm going for a late lunch and you're in charge."</p>
<p>With the day beginning to look up again he confirmed a time with Elizabeth and went to get changed. The change of heart lasted until he met her outside and realised where exactly she was taking him as they crossed the street.</p>
<p>"You know Lizzie, when you said you'd buy me lunch, I was hoping for a bit more than this dump," Robert whinged as he held the door open for her.</p>
<p>"Well, you're the one who said you could only spare me thirty minutes for lunch," she said, and he thought he detected a snippy tone.</p>
<p>Robert followed her in and quickly scanned the place. He spotted an empty booth and started to head over, but Elizabeth's hand tugged him back.</p>
<p>"No, let's sit over there," she said pointing at two free stools by the counter. He held his hand out in protest, pointing at the booth. "But, its.."</p>
<p>"I want to sit there," she said forcefully and made for the stools.</p>
<p>He pulled a childish face at the back of her head, then sat down next to her and grumpily picked up the laminated menu. Wearing a look of disgust, he put it straight back down, grabbed a napkin and proceeded to wipe away some of the stickiness from off the menu, before grabbing another napkin and wiping his hands.</p>
<p>He caught her watching him with barely concealed incredulity, and shrugged defensively. "What? You know just as well as I do this place is a Petrie dish."</p>
<p>She turned her shaking head away from him, and picked up the closest thing to her and started playing with it.</p>
<p>He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she fidgeted with a sugar shaker. She was definitely edgy, and giving off a nervous vibe which confounded him. When he'd left her earlier that morning she'd been fine and he wondered what he was missing. Had something happened? "You okay, Lizzie?" he asked.</p>
<p>"Yes, why?"</p>
<p>"You seem a bit off. Early morning exercise not agree with you?"</p>
<p>She shot him a look which he ignored and looked around desperately trying to get the attention of the waitress. "I mean, seriously remind me again, why we even bother to come here? The service sucks about as much as the food!"</p>
<p>"Robert," she chastised. "Will you please keep your voice down! If you must know I chose lunch here for a specific reason."</p>
<p>"Because you're cheap or you think I'm a cheap date?" he scoffed and picked up the laminated menu again.</p>
<p>"You know, it's kind of funny that you should use that word," she said, glancing at him.</p>
<p>"What word?" he said distractedly, while trying to decide what looked less likely to give him food poisoning.</p>
<p>She didn't answer immediately, so he glanced sideways at her only to find her glaring at him reproachfully. He duly lowered the menu and raised an eyebrow.</p>
<p>She shook her head and sighed. "Never mind. Look I brought you here Robert, because we need to talk."</p>
<p>Aaaand here we go, he thought. The words every man just loves to hear. Always listen to your inner Lizzie Spidey sense, he chastised himself...it had been going off since he'd met her outside of the ER and he prepared himself for the day to start majorly sucking again. He sat up straighter in the stool as his back stiffened and put the menu down on the counter. Refusing to look at her he stared down at his hands. His face must have reflected what he was thinking when she asked. "Why do you suddenly look worried?"</p>
<p>He tried to rein in the disbelief from his voice. "Probably, because at no point in my life has, 'Robert we need to talk' ended well for me."</p>
<p>She smiled at him, but he didn't see it. "Then your luck may be about to change."</p>
<p>"Why?"</p>
<p>"Look, do you remember sitting here six years ago? In these very stools?"</p>
<p>"How could I forget?" he grumbled, and went back to the menu to hide his own discomfort.</p>
<p>She smiled broadly at him. "So you do remember?"</p>
<p>Oh, she was killing him. "Gee, let me see? Do I remember sitting here, making a total ass of myself trying to ask you out? How could I ever forget?"</p>
<p>"Actually for all the bad timing, I thought it was rather sweet."</p>
<p>"Sweet? Scar the memory even more for me, why don't you," he said, placing his hand over his heart in mock hurt.</p>
<p>"What if I unscarred it?" she said quickly.</p>
<p>"What are you talking about?" he asked, distracted again as the waitress walked past them carrying two plates. "Seriously, can we not go some place else for lunch? Gretel's food looks better than that slop."</p>
<p>"Robert!"</p>
<p>"What?!"</p>
<p>She looked at him exasperated. "Will you shut up and listen?"</p>
<p>He swivelled back around on the stool to face her, placed the menu down on the counter and crossed his arms. "Okay. Fine, I'm listening."</p>
<p>"Thank you," she began again. "I wanted to say that a lot of time has passed us by since then, and we've both been through a lot...but together, we've got through it...and I don't think we're necessarily the same people any more than we were six years ago, and.."</p>
<p>"Lizzie?"</p>
<p>"What?"</p>
<p>"You're rambling. Get to the point before I die of starvation."</p>
<p>"You're really not making this easy for me!" she snapped at him.</p>
<p>"Well, it would help if I knew why we were here then, wouldn't it?" he snapped back, and made a performance of looking at his watch. "'Cause eating doesn't appear to be on the agenda anytime soon!"</p>
<p>She breathed in trying to calm down. This was not even remotely going anything near like when she'd rehearsed it in her head. She grabbed his hand in both of hers, and he looked down at the sudden contact, then lifted his eyes back to hers. "Robert, I need you to sit there quietly, and listen to what I have to say. Say nothing."</p>
<p>He opened his mouth and she shook her head. "I mean it!"</p>
<p>"Yesterday in the lounge...you asked me if I was ready to start dating again?"</p>
<p>He nodded, wondering where exactly this conversation was heading.</p>
<p>"So I brought you here, specifically here to tell you that I am...ready, that is...to date. Now, I know we sort of agreed to keep things strictly platonic between us, but I've developed feelings for you and well…our relationship is no longer going in the direction I want for us..."</p>
<p>The same flaming red tinge from earlier this morning crept up her neck colouring her cheeks, and Robert slowly realised where this conversation was indeed heading. A wide smile began to spread across his face. "Lizzie?" he said, softly. "Are you trying to ask me out?"</p>
<p>She blew out her nervous breath and looked him dead in the eye. "Yes," she said, watching him closely for a reaction. He was smiling and his eyes were twinkling, but she wondered what exactly was going on behind them. "Look, I know its a u-turn on my part, and that you may not feel..."</p>
<p>He squeezed her hand. "To be absolutely clear here," he interrupted. "Just so there's no misunderstanding. Are you telling me you want to have a relationship with me?"</p>
<p>She smiled and squeezed his hand back. "That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you. What do you thi…" She stopped mid-sentence and watched as he suddenly leaned forward, and carefully reached up to cup her face in his hands. She felt her breath catch in her throat as he slowly touched his lips to hers. It was soft and light and tender to the point of almost chaste – as if he still didn't quite believe her, and expected a slap in the face to follow. So she opened her mouth to him and laid her own fingers over his face, pulling him closer, inviting him in. She felt his jaw muscles tighten as she slowly spread her fingers out, and he responded in kind, increasing the pressure in his fingertips against her cheeks and intensified the kiss, probing and tasting her mouth with his tongue. It was sensuous and exquisite, but what thrilled her most was the very deliberateness of it. No hint of haste whatsoever. Just gentle, controlled indulgence affording her an insight of just how wonderful and exciting lovemaking would be.</p>
<p>They were interrupted by the waitress who coughed loudly and asked if they were ready to order. They broke apart ever so slightly, grinning at each other.</p>
<p>"So are you?" she asked, her eyes dancing. "Ready?"</p>
<p>"I'd say I'm oven ready."</p>
<p>"I meant are you ready to order?"</p>
<p>"No you didn't but yes I am...on both counts. I'll take the chicken salad," he said not taking his eyes off of her. Elizabeth smiled. "Make that two please."</p>
<p>The waitress jotted it down and left them alone again.</p>
<p>"So, is this now a date then?"</p>
<p>"Yes, I suppose it is," she grinned.</p>
<p>"Well then you should know for next time, I have standards that Doc Magoo's just does not meet...table linen at the very least, being one of them."</p>
<p>"What, you don't like Doc Magoo's, even now?"</p>
<p>"Lizzie, you have transformed a place of greasy cholesterol and rejection into a happy memory, but I really must insist on choosing the venue next time. Also, your timing is lousy," he laughed softly, and held her face. "How am I supposed to go back to work now and function? I'm not going to be able to concentrate on anything."</p>
<p>She grinned. "Well, think more of it, as you have something very wonderful to look forward to when you finish."</p>
<p>He leaned his head in again to hers and kissed her, the very act, the freedom with which he could do it, thrilling him.</p>
<p>888888888</p>
<p>Once they'd parted ways at the diner, Elizabeth had spent the rest of the day wondering if the change in their relationship would translate into change at home. Would it alter the way they acted around each other? She had nervous butterflies in her stomach when she heard his knock on the door, and told herself to get a grip, feeling a bit like a nervous teenager.</p>
<p>When she'd opened the door to him, finding him there as promised armed with a pizza, they'd simply grinned at each other. A brief moment of awkwardness passed between them as neither moved, until Robert leaned forward and kissed her. She'd relaxed against him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer, kissing him back.</p>
<p>"Momma kissin Wobbah!"</p>
<p>They'd broken apart grinning and looked down at Ella who was looking up at them and the pizza in particular, with delight.</p>
<p>From that point on, normalcy was restored as Ella dictated the return to familiar routine. They'd sat on the floor with their backs against the couch and Ella squeezed between them, eating pizza straight from the box. Armed with a large slice of pepperoni feast and Clifford on the television she was in her element.</p>
<p>"So Symons was pleased with everything?" Elizabeth asked.</p>
<p>Robert nodded. "Yeah. He said it's all going as he'd expect. I can move the thumb without too much thought now," he said, rotating his left wrist and wiggling his fingers as evidence. "I definitely have less discomfort since the surgery, and he confirmed the circulation is better."</p>
<p>"That's brilliant."</p>
<p>"Yeah. He did say the early warmer weather we've been enjoying, will have masked how much better it is to an extent and the real test will be when it turns cold again."</p>
<p>"And sensation?"</p>
<p>"According to him, just a matter of time."</p>
<p>Elizabeth smiled and leaned across over Ella's head, to kiss him. He closed his eyes and leaned in to meet her. They finished up eating and Ella, who hadn't seen him in a week, completely monopolised him. He dutifully tucked her in a few hours later and came back down the stairs to find Elizabeth on the couch. She looked up at him as he appeared.</p>
<p>"You done playing?"</p>
<p>"With Ella? Yes. With you, I've not even started," he said, sitting down beside her. He put his arm around her and pulled her closer.</p>
<p>"Sooo," she started.</p>
<p>"Sooo," he echoed.</p>
<p>"Alone at last."</p>
<p>He squeezed her hand. "Are you okay?"</p>
<p>She smiled and squeezed his hand back reassuringly. "Never better," she said.</p>
<p>"You sure, 'cause you sound nervous. Not having second thoughts I hope," he said lightly, but in case of any doubt on his part she leaned in and kissed him deeply.</p>
<p>"I take it that's a no then," Robert sighed when they broke apart, smiling broadly.</p>
<p>"That is a most definite no," she purred.</p>
<p>"So what is bugging you?"</p>
<p>"I don't know. I just have this weird feeling like I'm missing something. Should I not be feeling nervous? Why am I not nervous?"</p>
<p>"Well, why would you be?"</p>
<p>She gave him a look of disbelief. "Maybe, because of the seismic shift in our relationship? You don't feel nervous at all?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I wouldn't use the word nervous."</p>
<p>"Well, what word would you use?"</p>
<p>He put his head back, closed his eyes and pursed his lips in deep thought.</p>
<p>"Smug," he said, after a brief moment of reflection.</p>
<p>She burst out laughing, and he opened his eyes and fixed her with his gaze. "I mean it. I finally got the girl and I'm not going to make any apologies for feeling anything else but, one hundred percent smug. Why don't you tell me why you think we should be nervous?"</p>
<p>"I'm probably overthinking it," she said, shaking her head dismissively. "I guess I just thought everything would be, I don't know, somehow different? You obviously don't?"</p>
<p>He shook his head. "Not really. All that's different is I get to do this now," he said, and pulled her across, onto his lap. He brushed the hair away from her neck and moved his mouth towards her, nuzzling her ear. "And this." He dropped small kisses down her neck, smiling as he felt her body shiver involuntarily.</p>
<p>"Well, clearly you're not uncomfortable," she giggled, as he hit a ticklish spot.</p>
<p>He brought his head back up and found her eyes. "No, I'm not...and that's the point. Lizzie, I've never been more comfortable with anyone my whole life, as I am with you. So I guess my question for you is, are you uncomfortable?"</p>
<p>"No," she said. "Not in the slightest, but that's what's making me feel weird. Is it not weird that we shouldn't be nervous?"</p>
<p>He stroked her face and traced his thumb down her cheek bone. "What are you trying to tell me Lizzie? Are you worried we're moving too fast?"</p>
<p>She snorted. "Hardly! Neither of us are teenagers."</p>
<p>"Oh, thank God for that," he grinned. "I thought I was going to have to do the whole 'I'm a gentleman, so only when you're ready act.'"</p>
<p>She arched an eyebrow at him and placed her hands behind his neck. "An act?"</p>
<p>He gazed up at her lovingly. "The performance would have been Oscar winning, but rest assured it would have been an act," he said and went back to kissing her neck.</p>
<p>"Maybe it's because we've done this whole thing backwards," she said, tilting her head to the side, granting him more access.</p>
<p>"Backwards?" he murmured.</p>
<p>"Well most people date first, then move in and learn how to live together. We've just done it backwards. Some would say we've done the hard part."</p>
<p>He grinned, his teeth grazing against her skin and dropped his hands to her hips. "And now we get to do the fun part?"</p>
<p>"You're very sure of yourself there Romano."</p>
<p>"Don't fight it Corday; I saw you checking out the goods this morning."</p>
<p>She burst out laughing and he grinned triumphantly. "So now that we've established we've been on the world's longest, backwards date whatever, are you comfortable now?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she said, swivelling around so she sat straddling him. She wrapped her hands around the back of his neck and pulled his mouth towards hers, melting against him. He let out a contended moan and she brought her hands up to tip his face back and looked down at him. He gazed up at her with doe like, smoky eyes and gave her a smile that took her breath away. It was relaxed, unguarded, unreserved and it was solely for her, laying out his face wide open and bare for her to see. He was inviting her in and in that moment she loved it, loved him for it. Her thumbs drifted across his face and pressed into the dimples she now knew how to make appear on demand, and looked down into his eyes, which were dancing by now.</p>
<p>"Tell me what you're thinking?" she said, her voice not more than a whisper.</p>
<p>He leaned his head slightly to the left, catching her thumb in the corner of his mouth before kissing it. Slowly he traced his hands back up her arms, along her collarbone, her shoulders, her neck until they rested either side of her face. "I'm thinking you talk too much," he said and pushed some stray curls away from her face. "I'm thinking that talking is overrated." He brushed his lips against hers, feeling her smile against his lips. "I'm thinking actions speak louder than words," he murmured and dropped his mouth to her neck. "And, I'm thinking I don't want to talk any more." He closed his eyes and let his fingers trace the contours of her face, her cheeks, her jaw.</p>
<p>She moved her mouth to the nape of his neck where it met his collarbone and nibbled at the soft flesh there. Hints of spice and sandalwood drifted up into her senses, and she slid her fingers slowly down his arms, her nails leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake. When she sank her teeth into his skin she smiled triumphantly as she felt and heard him gasp.</p>
<p>She brought her eyes back up to his. "Tell me what you're thinking now," she teased, playfully.</p>
<p>He pushed his hand up into her hair, pulling her slowly down to him again. "I'm thinking, right now I'm not capable of thinking."</p>
<p>She smiled once more and crushed her mouth to his and rendered him speechless.</p>
<p>88888888888888</p>
<p>For all the nights that Robert had stayed over at Elizabeth's they'd never once crossed the friendship line. As a result they'd mindfully never been overly tactile with each other. Only when he'd needed comfort after a nightmare, or she herself needed a hug, did they physically move together, always respecting the friendship.</p>
<p>So when she woke up she found everything was different. Different for one, because they were lying in her bed, in her bedroom. It had been a conscious choice she'd made as they had climbed the stairs together last night. He'd automatically headed for the guest room, and she had tugged him back, changing direction. She had joked it was because the bed was bigger, but really she wanted to convey the message to him that he was no longer a guest...that she wanted him. Wanted him in her bed, in her house, in hers and Ella's lives.</p>
<p>It was different because she was lying on her side as naked as the day she was born, with Robert wrapped around her like a candy wrapper. She closed her eyes and breathed in contentedly, basking in his body heat. Last night had been wonderful, proving her earlier hunch in Doc Magoo's, to be correct.</p>
<p>Slow, deliberate, gentle kisses from a man who'd hungered for her for years, took her pleasantly by surprise...she'd thought their first time at least, would have been rushed, frantic and more about satiating desire, but no...his kisses and hands had set the pace and he'd taken his bloody time enjoying himself, enjoying her. Impressively so in fact.</p>
<p>There'd been no desperate scramble, no needy rush to release pent up desire. He'd settled in for the night and taken his sweet time exploring and pleasuring her. He'd mapped out her body very precisely with his eyes, leaving no part uncharted. He'd explored all of her with his hands, his tongue, his lips. He'd touched, tasted, teased; smelled her perfume, her shampoo, her scent; he'd delicately responded to her body's needs as he listened to her moans. He pleased and pleasured, made her ache in the best possible way, until finally he'd drank as he sated her...and then and only then had he made love to her; and he'd taken his sweet time there too.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some dialogue taken from season ten, 'Dear Abby' and 'Shifts Happen'</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As the lights changed to red, Robert took his foot off the gas and slowly applied the brake, bringing his beloved Jaguar to a halt. He turned to admire his beautiful passenger and smiled as the morning sun hit her face just right, lighting her up. Beaming, she turned towards him and leaned in to give him a quick kiss. He had no words to describe how he felt in that instant, because smug certainly didn't come close to conveying how he felt. Then just as suddenly she withdrew her lips and pulled down the sun visor to use the vanity mirror, making some adjustments to her long, curly locks. She flicked her head to the side, sending curls bouncing just as she had earlier that morning. He couldn't stop the grin forming from ear to ear, as he remembered how she'd done exactly that same thing no more than a few hours ago while moving on top of him. Oh, yes, smug does not come close one iota right now to describe how he felt.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and remembered waking up, slowly becoming aware of where he was and who he was wrapped around. Finding himself snugly spooned behind Elizabeth, his left arm and leg were draped possessively across her. He could tell from her breathing she was already awake, and tried to keep his own breaths even so as not to tip her off. However, the very proximity of her body to his meant his own had other ideas and decided to betray him. Elizabeth rolled over in his arms wearing a bemused expression. "Well now, someone's very much up and awake."</p>
<p>He gave her a shameless smile. "What can I say Lizzie, I'm not made of wood."</p>
<p>She giggled, and with a downward flick of her eyes and a wicked smile said, "No, you are most certainly not."</p>
<p>He brought his hand up to caress her cheek and lovingly traced it with his fingers. "Good morning," he said softly.</p>
<p>"Good morning yourself." She leaned in for a kiss, and he obliged her with his lips and closed his eyes, losing himself in her. Soft, light kisses had quickly deepened as their hands roamed freely and he'd felt her hand pushing against his shoulder, rolling him over onto his back. Then she'd rolled herself on top and spread herself over him. He'd gazed up at her, more than content to let her take charge as she lowered herself onto him and began to move him in exquisite ways.</p>
<p>The sound of a car horn hooting brought him back to reality, and he opened his eyes to see the lights had changed to green. He offered up his hand in silent apology to the driver behind and pulled the car forward, setting off again. As they rounded the corner, both of their eyes widened in disbelief at the sight before them.</p>
<p>"Bloody hell! Elizabeth gasped, her nose all but pressed up against the window. "It's gone!"</p>
<p>He slowed the car down to a crawl so they could both rubber neck as they drove past where Doc Magoo's should have been.</p>
<p>"What the hell?" he muttered. The diner was completely decimated, burnt to the ground. He cast his eyes quickly towards her and smirked. "Guess chef burnt more than just the toast this time!"</p>
<p>She hit his arm playfully. "Don't be awful! I can't believe we were only there yesterday!"</p>
<p>He sped up and they carried on until he pulled the car into the garage and aimed for his parking spot. "Let's hope it's not a bad omen for the day," he said and cut the engine. Quickly scanning the garage for people, he leaned across and kissed her. It was meant to be a quick kiss, but neither seemed interested in cutting it short. Eventually they pulled apart and smiled at each other. She found his eyes with hers and brought her hands up to his tie-knot, straightening it out. "You know, as wonderful as your lips are there's something we haven't discussed."</p>
<p>"Which is?"</p>
<p>"How do you think we should play this?"</p>
<p>"I'm not playing anything," he said and pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear.</p>
<p>"Robert," she chastised. "You know what I mean."</p>
<p>He left his hand where it was and fixed her with his gaze. "How do you suggest we play it?"</p>
<p>"I asked first."</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I don't really see its anyone's business but ours, so I'm not going to go shouting about it, but equally I don't really want to have to hide in a closet either...I guess, really it's up to you Lizzie."</p>
<p>"How do you figure that?"</p>
<p>"You're the one who's going to get all the flak...they're gonna say you're crazy for seeing me."</p>
<p>She sort of half shrugged not disagreeing with him. "Well that's because they don't know you like I do."</p>
<p>"So what does that translate into in real terms?"</p>
<p>"I guess it means, we'll just be us like you said, and see how long it takes them to figure it out?"</p>
<p>"So, we let the mill run its course?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she said and kissed him to seal it. "What have you got on today?"</p>
<p>His smile transformed into a pained wince. "Kerry's paged me three times already, so I'll probably have to clean up whatever mess she's got herself into...and then I have a meeting with Anspaugh. After that, more paperwork delights I guess. You?"</p>
<p>"Relatively light I hope. I'm covering the ER and clearing my own paperwork."</p>
<p>"So, we may actually get to have lunch together then?"</p>
<p>"Yes," she smiled. "And you have your wish for a new venue. I'll come find you shall I?"</p>
<p>"More likely I'll come find you first," he said, pulling her into his arms and hugged her tightly to him. "I'm not waiting that long to do this again," he said, and kissed her again.</p>
<p>88888888888</p>
<p>Robert closed the door to Elizabeth's office with a little more force than necessary, and she looked up at him up from where she sat behind her desk. She leaned back cockily and smiled. "Already? I thought you'd last longer than," she glanced at her watch. "What has it been...two hours?!"</p>
<p>He pulled a face and smiled back at her but she noticed it didn't quite reach his eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked.</p>
<p>He shrugged and blew out an audible puff of air through his lips. "Seems I was right earlier."</p>
<p>"About what?"</p>
<p>"Omens," he said. "Turns out Doc Magoo's burning down really is bad ju-ju."</p>
<p>Elizabeth frowned and stood up, walking out from behind her desk. "Why? What's happened?" she asked and gestured towards the couch for him to sit.</p>
<p>He slumped down heavily and she sat down next to him.</p>
<p>"I'm not sure where to begin," he said, leaning forward resting his head in his hands.</p>
<p>"Just tell me," she said, getting concerned.</p>
<p>He turned his head to look at her. "Okay, bullet points…Kerry wants time off and Donald wants me to work in the ER!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth stared at him blankly for a minute, then shook her head. "Okay, start from the beginning.</p>
<p>He sighed and leaned back. "I met with Kerry first thing and she tells me she needs time off or she's going to have a breakdown…"</p>
<p>"Because of Keith Mitchell you think?" Elizabeth interjected.</p>
<p>He nodded his agreement. "I think so. She wasn't exactly chatty, but she didn't look great...so yeah, I figure she's probably being haunted by the ghost of past mistakes. So I've no choice really, but to give her the time off. Anyhow, so then I go to my meeting with Donald and tell him what she's requested, and in one breath he says, 'Oh dear' and then in the next says, 'perfect timing!'"</p>
<p>"Perfect timing for what?"</p>
<p>"I told you already...he wants me to work in the ER!"</p>
<p>Elizabeth's eyes registered her shock and he nodded his head ruefully. "Yep, that was pretty much my reaction too!" He threw a hand up in the air. "I blame Lewis for this! If she hadn't conned me into helping her out yesterday, Donald wouldn't even consider letting me loose on patients again! He tells me he's impressed with what he saw yesterday, and has convinced Legal and the Board to let me be a Doctor again...they want me to do some shifts in the ER, where I can wheedle out surgical cases. Basically save you actual surgeons from having to waste your precious time trekking down to the ER just for rule outs. No, I get to do all that and then call down the cavalry as required."</p>
<p>Elizabeth sat back and reached for his hand looking contemplative. "You know that's actually not a bad idea Robert."</p>
<p>"Well you would say that, wouldn't you?" he said, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice. "Saves you time and manpower!"</p>
<p>"Yes, you're absolutely right, and if you were still the Chief of Surgery, you'd be championing for exactly the same thing!"</p>
<p>He stared hard at her.</p>
<p>"I'm sorry," she said. "That sounded horrible didn't it?"</p>
<p>He shook his head and sighed. "No, you're right."</p>
<p>She squeezed his hand and he turned his head towards her. "I'm okay," he reassured her. "I know it makes sense, but it just stings a little." He smiled sadly and her heart went out to him.</p>
<p>"So let me take the sting away," she whispered and leaned in to kiss him softly.</p>
<p>He closed his eyes and let out a small moan as she did.</p>
<p>"Better now?" she asked, pulling her mouth away a fraction.</p>
<p>He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Much better, thank you."</p>
<p>"So, is it a fait accompli, or do you have a choice?"</p>
<p>"Oh, its a done deal. I mean, I'll give it to the old goat, he dressed it up nicely and sprinkled it with sparkly glitter but it's still bullshit…'I'm a talented doctor and its time to start healing people again. Time to embrace a new chapter, a new path...blah,blah, blah.' What he meant to say was the hospitals paying me a sizeable chunk of moolah and they'd like to see some value back for their money!"</p>
<p>"That's probably true to an extent," she nodded, agreeing with his assessment. "The Chief of Staff position has always been juggled alongside other duties. Anspaugh did it, just like you before your accident; and I don't have to tell you about county funding. Plus, you said yourself you're not happy being nothing more than an administrator."</p>
<p>He leaned his back against the couch and covered his face with his hands. "Lizzie, you know I hate it when you do that."</p>
<p>"When I do what?" she asked.</p>
<p>He peeked at her from behind his fingers. "Use my own words against me to make me see sense!"</p>
<p>"But you make it so easy for me," she chortled. "Anyhow, what you're not seeing is, he's actually giving you a massive compliment."</p>
<p>He snorted. "How'd you figure that?"</p>
<p>"It shows they have faith in you and your abilities." She pulled his hands away from his face. "Are you or are you not a doctor?"</p>
<p>He nodded.</p>
<p>"So then see this as a fresh start, and change your way of thinking."</p>
<p>"You mean forget I was ever a surgeon!"</p>
<p>"No, that's not what I mean at all! Robert, all your skill, all of your vast knowledge and experience is still in there," she said touching one hand to his chest and the other to his head. "Its time to hone it and learn new ones."</p>
<p>"But, it's the ER!" he whined. "What do I know about emergency medicine?"</p>
<p>"So then learn!" she chided. "Look Robert, it's a solution that works for all parties, and if anyone doubts you can do it, then bloody well prove them wrong! Instead of seeing it as some sort of demotion, which it most certainly is not...see it as another challenge and embrace it! You'll be out from behind the desk helping people again. You said yourself that's what you wanted. If you throw everything you have into it then I know you'll make it work...and if you're having a bad day and feel like quitting, well, I'll be here for you just like I am now."</p>
<p>He gave her a small resigned smile. "I don't really have a choice do I?"</p>
<p>She shook her head. "No, not really. How, errr, how did you leave it with Donald?" she enquired tentatively.</p>
<p>He grinned and pulled his head back a little to catch her eyes. "You mean did I tell him he could stick his kind offer up his a.."</p>
<p>Her pressed finger against his lips stopped him from finishing the sentence, and he kissed the back of it and lifted his hand up lacing his fingers with hers, squeezing reassuringly. "Don't worry, I told him I'd think about it."</p>
<p>"And did you tell him that nicely?"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "I was polite."</p>
<p>She smiled at him knowingly. "Hmmm...in that case, I think you should go and find him now. Tell him you've had a good think about it, and you're up for the new challenge."</p>
<p>88888888888</p>
<p>Robert stepped off the elevator and quickly scanned the ER. Unusually it appeared relatively calm and he walked over to the admit desk as casually as he could.</p>
<p>Jerry was occupied on the phone and everyone else seemed busy. Good he thought. He started to flip through the outstanding case files. Nope, nope, nope, no way in hell, nope...maybe. He picked out the file. Ten year old with earache? Simple, he could do that.</p>
<p>A panicked voice calling out loudly for a crash cart made him look up as it did Jerry. Spinning around he saw Neela over at curtains make a dash for the equipment in question and he threw the file back on the desk and hurried over.</p>
<p>"What's going on?!" he barked.</p>
<p>V-tach," a red haired doctor he didn't recognise said. "He's crashing."</p>
<p>Robert rolled his eyes at the lack of information and reached his hand to the man's neck to feel for a pulse. "Hey, can you hear me?!"</p>
<p>"Oh, thank God!" Neela said, clearly relieved to see a senior doctor as she arrived with the crash cart. "He's one of ours Doctor Romano...second year resident, Cooper. He was having a bad asthma reaction to fibre glass, and we pushed too much epi into him!"</p>
<p>Robert nodded.</p>
<p>"Charge to 300," red yelled, reaching for the charge paddles.</p>
<p>"What?! No!" Robert shouted, removing his hand from Coopers neck. "Are you trying to kill him, you idiot?! It's a stable v-tach, he only needs 50!" He looked down into the wide, panic stricken eyes of the patient, who was still trying to thump his own chest back into a normal rhythm. "Hey, Cooper, is it? Do you want some Valium, because this is not going to be comfortable."</p>
<p>Cooper's panicked eyes locked with his and he gasped out. "Just do it!"</p>
<p>"Okay tough guy, don't say I didn't warn you," he said, and indicated to Neela to give him the paddles.</p>
<p>"Charged to 50 for synch cardioversion?" she confirmed as she handed them over, and he nodded.</p>
<p>"Clear!" he called, and pressed the paddles against Coopers chest. As expected his body jolted and his long legs which had been dangling off the edge of the gurney, comically shot up in the air. Robert removed the pads and stood back.</p>
<p>"V-tach," red called out, and Robert looked up at the monitor.</p>
<p>"Okay, let's try 100," he said, nodding at Neela who made the necessary adjustment.</p>
<p>Cooper's eyes desperately tried to find Roberts. "Valium!" he managed to croak out, in a hoarse whisper.</p>
<p>Robert looked down at the strained voice. "Valium," he repeated and Robert half-grinned. "That boat has sailed my friend. Clear!"</p>
<p>"Oh my God, what's going on here?!"</p>
<p>Robert looked up to see Susan wearing a shocked expression.</p>
<p>"Apparently our residents are now trying to kill each other," he said and hit Cooper again with another charge.</p>
<p>Legs flailed again, and Coopers rhythm returned to normal. He looked down at him and nodded. "There you go...all fixed. Don't worry you'll be fine," he said, and handed the paddles back to Neela.</p>
<p>Coopers grateful eyes looked up at him and he nodded.</p>
<p>Red let out a relieved breath and Neela lowered her head doing the same.</p>
<p>Robert turned to Susan who was still shaking her head in bewilderment. She smiled at him. "Lucky for us you were passing by, huh?"</p>
<p>"Actually, have you got time for a quick coffee?" he said nudging his head in the direction of the doctors lounge. "I need to speak to you."</p>
<p>She looked a little surprised but shrugged. "Sure...it'll have to be quick though...Kerry hasn't showed up and, well you've just met my new residents…"</p>
<p>He grinned and shook his head. "Okay kids, I'm going to borrow your mom for a minute...try not to kill each other while we're gone," he shot out over his shoulder and walked with Susan towards the doctors lounge. "Remind me not to get sick anytime soon, if that's the calibre of doctor they're spewing out," he said.</p>
<p>"Tell me about it," she whinged as they entered the lounge and she set about pouring two cups of coffee. "At least you don't have to work with them everyday."</p>
<p>Robert grimaced. "Yeah, about that."</p>
<p>She passed him a cup of coffee and he nodded his thanks as they both sat down. Susan looked at him expectantly.</p>
<p>"Kerry's asked for some time off, and I've approved it."</p>
<p>She lowered the cup from her lips. "Awww, no! Please tell me you're yanking my chain! You've just seen first hand how crazy it is down here! You can't do this to me!"</p>
<p>He shrugged. "Actually I can. Look, I have good news and I have bad news."</p>
<p>"There's more bad news?!" she groaned. "Okay give it to me...good news first if you don't mind."</p>
<p>He smirked and took a sip of coffee. "The good news is you are now officially the Acting Chief of Emergency Medicine in her absence, and shall be paid accordingly."</p>
<p>Susan didn't look particularly impressed. "If you call that good news, what the hell is the bad news?"</p>
<p>"I'm going to be helping out down here from now on," he said quietly.</p>
<p>"What?!" she spluttered, snorting coffee through her nose in the process. "For real?!"</p>
<p>Robert raised a disgusted eyebrow. "Try and contain your excitement within your body if you don't mind."</p>
<p>She wiped her face with a hand, and grinned. "Hey, no I'll take the help...I just didn't think it would be up your street?"</p>
<p>"It's not," he admitted, leaning forward. "Look Susan, I'll level with you, I'm not really being given a choice. Thanks to you yesterday, Donald was witness to my reduced gimpiness, and so with Kerry going all sabbatical on us, he thinks its an ideal time for me to go forth and heal once again...so I'm gonna be doing a few shifts down here from now on."</p>
<p>Susan nodded. "Okay, well that's great...I'll take all the help I can get."</p>
<p>"Yeah you say that now. Look, I need a favour."</p>
<p>"What kind of favour?"</p>
<p>"The last time I did ER scut I had pimples and a full head of hair," he said, wiping his hand over his head for nostalgia's sake. "A trauma comes in I'm good, snot and diarrhoea not so much. I'm not up to date with emergency medicine, so I guess I'm asking for your help. If you could just, you know, discreetly check over prescriptions for me...make sure I don't kill anyone, until I can get myself up to speed?"</p>
<p>Susan nodded. "Yeah, yeah, sure, no problem, I can do that."</p>
<p>Robert nodded. "Appreciate that," he said and stood up. "Guess we better check they haven't tried to kill anyone else, huh?"</p>
<p>"Welcome to my world!" She got up and followed him out. "Hey, so now we're gonna be work buddies can I call you Robert?"</p>
<p>"You can call me Rocket."</p>
<p>After a split second, she laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm gonna go with Robert if its all the same."</p>
<p>"What's wrong with Rocket?" he stopped and stared.</p>
<p>"I sounds too...intimate," she said and winked, then linked her arm through his and he registered surprise with a raised eyebrow. "This is gonna be a hoot."</p>
<p>They reached the admit desk and Susan started looking over the board. Robert absently picked up the file he'd thrown down on the counter earlier.</p>
<p>Susan turned around. "What you got there?" she said and plucked the file straight out of his hands.</p>
<p>"Hey," he said, and held up his hands in a 'what the hell?' gesture.</p>
<p>Susan quickly cast her eyes over it, then looked back up at him, shaking her head. "Okay rule number one...cherry picking is not allowed."</p>
<p>He snatched it straight back. "It is for me."</p>
<p>She reached for it again, and a tug of war ensued.</p>
<p>"I can do this all day," he said.</p>
<p>She squared up to him. "Yeah? Well so can I."</p>
<p>"Doctor Lewis?" Jerry interrupted. "Phone call for you."</p>
<p>Robert smirked and raised an eyebrow. "You're wanted."</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes at him. "Look, I'm working the board today so I'll make sure you have an easy day...let you find your feet so's to speak."</p>
<p>"Fine," he said. "I'm still taking this though."</p>
<p>"Fine," she said and released her hand. "I'll let you have this one."</p>
<p>"Oh, you'll let me will you?" he smirked.</p>
<p>"Whatever. You can shout me lunch as a thank you."</p>
<p>Robert grinned triumphantly. "Speaking of, what the hell happened to Doc Magoo's?</p>
<p>"Fryer fire or something. Whole place went up last night."</p>
<p>Robert shrugged. "Shame. I was just beginning to warm to the place too."</p>
<p>888888888888888</p>
<p>"Thank you Doctor."</p>
<p>Robert pulled the curtain aside and rolled his neck round, having just used his wealth of experience to remove a marble from a six year old's nose. He couldn't wait for the day to end so he could take comfort in Elizabeth's arms. He looked up and saw the red haired idiot from earlier about to tuck into a patients lunch.</p>
<p>"What the hell are you doing?"</p>
<p>The idiot pointed down at the patient. "He...he wasn't eating it?"</p>
<p>"That doesn't mean you get to eat it, you putz!" He strode over and pulled at the idiots ID badge, noting his name. "Okay Morris, what's his story?"</p>
<p>Morris suddenly resembled a dear caught in the headlights, and peered down at the clipboard. "Erm, err, Forest Herman," he stammered. "He's just snoozing off pain meds for lower back pain."</p>
<p>Morris looked back up at him seeking approval, and Robert rolled his eyes and mentally counted to ten, then directed his attention down to the patient. "Mister Herman," he began, "I'm Doctor..." He stopped mid sentence not liking the look of him and tried massaging the mans chest. Absolutely no movement whatsoever. "Shit," he swore, and placed his finger on the neck to check for a pulse. "Mister Herman, can you hear me?!"</p>
<p>"Please tell me he's just sleeping," Morris said, picking up on Robert's increasing anxiety.</p>
<p>Robert looked up and growled at him. "Not unless he's taking a dirt nap!"</p>
<p>Morris brought his hands up to his face and groaned, "Nooo!"</p>
<p>"Wait, I feel a pulse," Robert said. "It's weak...don't just stand there, get a crash cart!" he yelled.</p>
<p>Neela who was passing by jumped to it and Robert turned to Morris. "Bag him! What did you give him?"</p>
<p>Morris grabbed what he needed and started to bag him, his hand shaking. "Just Demerol for back pain."</p>
<p>"Jerry page Doctor Corday, stat!" he yelled out and grabbed an ultrasound.</p>
<p>Jerry nodded and reached for the phone, as Robert placed the sonar paddle on the man's chest and slowly moved it around, while watching the screen.</p>
<p>"Okay, what did I do? What did I miss?" Morris asked.</p>
<p>Robert spotted it immediately and silently swore. "While you were stealing his tuna sandwich, he was bleeding out from a tipple A you moron!"</p>
<p>They moved quickly into trauma two and Susan joined them. "What's going on?"</p>
<p>Robert looked up at her. "We have to stop meeting like this!"</p>
<p>She smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Triple A bleed," he answered.</p>
<p>"He's drifting down," Malik said. "You want more blood?"</p>
<p>"Yep hang it," he said. "This man needs vascular right now. If we can get his pressure up, they can do an endovascular procedure...I doubt he'll survive an open procedure. Where's Corday?"</p>
<p>"I'm here," Elizabeth said bursting through the doors and he looked up, unable to stop the smile forming on his face just at the sight of her.</p>
<p>"Lizzie! Glad you could join us!"</p>
<p>She returned his smile with her own and nodded. "What have you got?"</p>
<p>"Triple A bleed."</p>
<p>"Ohh, juicy," she said and rubbed her hands together.</p>
<p>He grinned up at her.</p>
<p>The connecting door opened and Susan turned around to see Cooper standing there. "Mind if I watch?" he said, dragging his IV behind him.</p>
<p>Robert scowled over at Morris. "Hey, tweedledum, look your buddy tweedledee's back in the land of the living! Let's see if we can save this one too, huh?!"</p>
<p>"You should be home in bed," Susan said to Cooper shaking her head.</p>
<p>"Unit six type specific is up," Abby said.</p>
<p>"Pressures down to 80/40. Shouldn't we start pressors?" Susan asked.</p>
<p>"No, he's not stable," Elizabeth said.</p>
<p>"Morris, grab some Betadine now and scrub it," Robert snapped. Morris jumped into action, happy to be able to do something within his comfort zone</p>
<p>"Ectopy," Abby called.</p>
<p>"Abby, kick that tray over here...ten blade to Doctor Corday now," Robert said.</p>
<p>"Scrubbed," Morris said.</p>
<p>Elizabeth looked at him surprised. "We're doing this here?"</p>
<p>He looked up and locked eyes with her. "You know as well as I do, he'll croak it before you get him upstairs...Midline transperitoaneal incision right here," he said pointing. "Drape this area here and here," he said to Morris.</p>
<p>She searched his eyes and saw in them the familiar steely, brown confidence from hours on end of procedures together. Rocket's back, she thought. She couldn't help it; her lips slowly spread beatifically until she was grinning ear to ear. Robert's own mouth mirrored hers.</p>
<p>Susan swallowed, and looked between the two of them. ""Err, you sure you don't wanna do this upstairs?" Susan asked worried. "Guys, my name is on the chart…"</p>
<p>"BP's still 50."</p>
<p>"Blade now," Elizabeth said, and held out her hand.</p>
<p>"Suction to Lewis," he called out as Abby passed the scalpel and he watched Elizabeth make the cut. Her hands moved quickly after making the incision, and spread the opening wide with her hands.</p>
<p>"There pull it down, Lizzie." She stretched further, making space and he reached in with his right hand. "You there?" she asked, her face close to his as they worked together, and suddenly it was as if they were back in the OR.</p>
<p>Without taking his eyes from her he felt around blindly, but knew exactly where he was.</p>
<p>"I'd feel so much better about this if you were actually looking at the patient!" Susan said, as the others in the room looked on with mouths open.</p>
<p>"Missed this, huh Lizzie?" he said, eyes twinkling.</p>
<p>"Just like old times," she replied grinning as the surgical adrenalin kicked in.</p>
<p>"Pressures still dropping," Abby called out.</p>
<p>"What are you doing?" Cooper asked, trying to get in closer for a better view.</p>
<p>"Either of you boys remember the law of Laplace?" he asked Morris and Cooper.</p>
<p>They both shook their heads and looked clueless.</p>
<p>"Stress on the arterial wall is pressure times radius, divided by wall thickness?" Abby ventured.</p>
<p>"Hah, you two just got nurse slapped!" he laughed. "Gold star goes to Miss Lockhart," Robert said impressed and smiled at her.</p>
<p>Abby smirked, clearly surprised at the rare compliment.</p>
<p>"Right angled retractor," Robert said, moving his right hand feeling around the abdomen.</p>
<p>Elizabeth retracted for him. "Bingo," he said. "I have the supraceliac aorta in my hand."</p>
<p>"Does that mean I'm not going to lose my license?" Susan asked.</p>
<p>"It means we have proximal control," Elizabeth said proudly. "You need a clamp or do you want to roll?"</p>
<p>He nodded. "We'll clamp. Don't want to give Donald a coronary on my first day down here, huh?"</p>
<p>"Agreed," she said and they exchanged another look. A quick procedure later and Mr Herman was stabilized for transport, and Elizabeth said, "Okay, lets go."</p>
<p>Robert nodded and moved to help Abby push the gurney out with Elizabeth. "That was impressive in there Abby. You should think about finishing medical school," he said.</p>
<p>Her eyebrows reached skyward. "Really?" she said surprised.</p>
<p>He grinned at her and nudged his head back indicating Morris. "Can't be any worse than.."</p>
<p>He was cut off as the doors closed on them and the other participants in the trauma room let out their breath.</p>
<p>"How wicked was that?" Cooper enthused excitedly and Morris shook his head. "What the hell was that?"</p>
<p>Susan grinned. "I think they call it foreplay," she muttered quietly. If today was any indicator of what working with Romano was going to be like, she was in for a hell of a ride until Kerry decided to come back to work.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sound of a key turning in the lock got Gretel's attention and she looked up hopefully from where she lay on the floor, on silent sentry duty. The door opened inwards and her patience was finally rewarded as Robert stepped in. She was up in a flash charging him down, nearly bowling him over in the process. His bad mood immediately dissipated, as he dropped to his knees and playfully fought off her licks, while giving her an extra long ear rub. "Heeey there, did you miss me girl," he cooed in a soft voice.</p><p>With him now spending as much time as possible at Elizabeth's, she'd also extended the invitation to Gretel to stop all the toing and froing. Ella had been absolutely thrilled with the idea but was also being very carefully monitored around her. So far both girls were unscathed, as were vases and furniture. When Elizabeth had broached the subject of Gretel staying, he'd finally come clean to her about the pony 'incident' and she'd taken great glee informing him she knew all about it. Apparently Ella had inadvertently ratted him out not long after the incident, when Elizabeth had spotted the new vase was defect free; something unbeknownst to him, the one Gretel had broken was not.</p><p>"Oh, thank God," Elizabeth said with clear relief as she stepped out from the kitchen. "She's been staring at that bloody door, looking miserable the whole time you've been gone!"</p><p>Robert didn't even look up at her and instead pampered Gretel with even more attention. "You're just not used to it here yet, are you girl?"</p><p>Feeling ever so slightly slighted, Elizabeth rolled her eyes. On hearing voices a dash of blonde hair ran past and threw herself into the cuddle fest by the door, this time succeeding in knocking him over. "Wobbuh!"</p><p>"Hey Ella!" he laughed.</p><p>Once both parties were appeased with hugs, he finally looked up and smiled at Elizabeth, who stood looking bemused with her arms folded across her chest.</p><p>"Hey," he said with a cheeky smile.</p><p>"Oh, so I finally get a look-in now, do I?" she said, and walked over offering out a hand.</p><p>"Just saving the best 'til last," he said and flashed her a seductive grin. Reaching up, he accepted her outstretched hand and let her pull him to his feet. Then he rewarded her with a slow, lingering kiss and she sighed into it appreciatively.</p><p>As Gretel and Ella, now placated, padded off back to the lounge he pulled back in her arms a bit and took a look at her.</p><p>"Is that an apron? Why are you wearing an apron? Are you...are you cooking?!"</p><p>She dropped her arms from his side and adopted an annoyed expression. "You're not the only one who can cook you know!"</p><p>He held up his own hands submissively. "I know, I know," he lied, trying not to grimace. "So what delights are we having?"</p><p>"Toad in the hole!" she announced proudly.</p><p>"Toad in the what now?"</p><p>She grinned. "It's a British classic...you'll love it," she sang then turned to head back to the kitchen to check on her latest culinary masterpiece.</p><p>Robert looked heavenward and closed his eyes. So far she'd served him up 'classics' of liver and onions, and steak and kidney pie. At least the pie had been edible even if it had sat in him for a whole week. All because he'd made some off the cuff, flippant comment about British cuisine. Now she seemed to be on a mission to change his opinion.</p><p>After dinner, wherein his opinion still remained unchanged, they sat on the couch together watching television.</p><p>"So how was your day?" she asked curiously.</p><p>"Not as good as yours...I'd have much preferred to have spent it with you and Ella," he said, pulling her closer to him.</p><p>By now, she'd grown wise to his distraction tactics and tried to press him again.</p><p>"Robert, answer the question. How was it?"</p><p>"Oh you know, if a yawn could yawn," he yawned for effect.</p><p>"Robert…"</p><p>"What," he said and leaned over to start nibbling on her ear. "It was the same as it always is...although today was extra special because I got to be puked on."</p><p>"Oh come on."</p><p>"What do you want me to say Lizzie? I'm getting up to speed with the journals and the latest emergency medicines...I can do it...I'm just not thrilled to be doing it."</p><p>"You need to at least give it a chance."</p><p>"Why? It's 70% boring with 30% not so boring...I hated the E.R when I did my rotation and nothing has changed."</p><p>"Well, what are you going to do about it?" she asked, her voice hitching a little as his lips moved deftly from her ear to her neck, leaving a trail of goose bumps in their wake.</p><p>He brought his head back level with hers and looked at her with smoky eyes. "Right now? I'm going to take you upstairs and make love to you."</p><p>Okay she thought, melting into his touch. While she was indeed aware of his distraction tactics...she just wasn't immune to them. She closed her eyes and filed the conversation away for another time.</p><p>88888888888</p><p>"So what are we going to do about Morris?" Susan asked, and then stuffed the rest of her egg sandwich in her mouth.</p><p>Robert glanced around the busy cafeteria and released a groan as he leaned back in the uncomfortable chair. He reached up and covered his face with his hands; partially to get away from the smell of egg, but also to hide from the fact he really didn't want to be doing residents reviews. In the two weeks he'd spent in the ER, the second year resident had to be the worst he'd ever come across. It was bad enough having to work down there in the first place, but this guy was the worst kind of lazy and incompetent. "All we can do is document everything. He'll either quit or we fire him, hopefully before he manages to kill someone...or one of us kills him first!"</p><p>Susan nodded agreement and wrote something down, then looked back up. "Cooper?"</p><p>Robert shrugged and nodded. "He's okay. Very capable from what I've seen so far, but a little desperate to come across as likeable...he needs to stop thinking he can be everyone's buddy."</p><p>"Yeah, he'll learn," Susan drawled. "I give him six weeks before we have him hating like the rest of us. Speaking of hate...Pratt?"</p><p>"What can I say? Pratt is a prat. Keep him away from me!"</p><p>"What exactly is it that you don't like about him?"</p><p>"He's an arrogant ass?"</p><p>Susan smirked and stared pointedly at him until he grinned. "Let me qualify that," he started again, his face turning serious. "He's an arrogant ass without the necessary skills to back it up, and in my book, that makes him dangerous. He thinks he knows best and does sneaky run-arounds to get what he wants. He pisses off other Departments on a ratio even I find hard to compete with...he questions senior Doctors opinions when he doesn't like what he hears; he's tardy, he's..."</p><p>Susan held up a hand to cut him off mid-rant. "Okay, okay," she chortled. "I get it!"</p><p>He reached for his coffee cup and took a good swig of the now lukewarm liquid. "You disagree?"</p><p>She shook her head. "No, not at all. Yes he's everything you just said...but in fairness, he does actually care about what he does, and he is a half decent doctor."</p><p>"I never said he was a bad doctor, did I? He is, and to quote your good-self here...he's a 'half-decent' one...but, half-decent does not entitle you to that level of arrogance. He needs to learn respect and garner some humility."</p><p>Susan lowered her head and scribbled a few more notes down on Pratt's evaluation.</p><p>"Any news on when Kerry's coming back?"</p><p>"Why, sick of me already?" he quipped. "I can always take my skills elsewhere."</p><p>"What and miss out on your witty repartee," she pouted. "No, you don't get to escape that easily."</p><p>He shook his head. "No, I've not heard anything from Kerry, but then I didn't expect to...she's got another couple of weeks leave left before we send out the search party."</p><p>Susan nodded, but he could see her clear frustration. Whilst he could see she was managing the additional responsibility of acting Chief, she was also pulling a lot of extra hours due to the lack of attending's. He himself had been doing a lot more hours than he preferred.</p><p>"I have heard from Kovac though," he said and she looked up, her expression immediately hopeful.</p><p>"Oh please tell me he's coming back?!"</p><p>He grinned at her and nodded. "Should have his paperwork in order for him to start back next week."</p><p>Susan lifted her eyes to the heavens. "Oh thank you God!"</p><p>"Susan, Susan," he said, shaking his head playfully. "How many times do I have to tell you...Robert is just fine."</p><p>She answered him with an exaggerated eye roll and he popped the last bit of his own sandwich into his mouth. "Anyhow like I said, Kovac should be back which is perfect timing, 'cause you'll have to live without me next week...see I can escape if I want to."</p><p>Susan nodded. "Oh that's right, you're jetting off for another check up in the sun. How is it by the way?" she said, looking at his arm.</p><p>He held up his left hand and waved each finger independently at her. "Pretty good actually."</p><p>"I wish I could go with you," she sighed heavily. "I'd kill for some sunshine and a chance to relax!"</p><p>"Well, one out of two isn't bad," he said, grinning at her wolfishly. "So you're not doing too badly."</p><p>"What do you mean?" she said confused.</p><p>"Well I wouldn't expect to find much sunshine in a disabled restroom, but you and Chuck certainly looked pretty relaxed when you came out of it earlier."</p><p>Susan clamped a hand over her mouth but not before she spat out some of her soda, and Robert recoiled. "How'd you know about that?" she laughed.</p><p>"You two aren't exactly subtle."</p><p>"Oh my God, does everyone know?!"</p><p>"You do know where you work right?" he said, laughing at her shocked expression. "So what's going on there anyhow...I mean besides the obvious. You two got divorced just so you could then get serious?"</p><p>She cocked her head and offered up a half-smile. "Robert, do you really want to have girlie chat with me?"</p><p>He grinned and shook his head. "No, forget I asked...I don't care."</p><p>"You don't care to hear about my sexcapdes? I don't believe you!"</p><p>"Well, when you put it like that," he laughed and leaned in closer. "Tell me more..."</p><p>888888</p><p>Elizabeth entered the cafeteria and heard familiar machine gun laughter. She quickly scanned the place and spotted Robert sat over by the window with Susan. Both were laughing and looking comfortable with each other as the remnants of lunch sat on the table between them. She started over in their direction and she didn't know if he sensed her or not, but somehow he managed to look up and spot her.</p><p>"Hey Lizzie!" he called out starting to rise up out of his chair. "I thought you were busy with an ex-lap?"</p><p>"He didn't make it," she explained, accepting the chair he gallantly pulled out for her. "I'm surprised to see you slumming it in here!"</p><p>"Yeah, that's probably my fault," Susan contributed, and nudged her head in Robert's direction. "Doctor deep pockets here said he'd buy me lunch and then brought me here."</p><p>Robert looked offended. "What? I thought I was catering to your palette? I didn't think you ate anything other than beige."</p><p>"Hah, you love a Weiner just as much as me!"</p><p>Robert's eyebrows shot up and he grinned lewdly, opening his mouth.</p><p>"Oh, don't even go there," she cut him off, laughing.</p><p>Still grinning Robert turned his eyes back to Elizabeth. "You eating Lizzie?" he asked, but then groaned as his pager went off. Glancing down, he pulled it off his belt to see who it was then looked back up. "My bloods are back," he said apologetically. "Ladies, if you'll excuse me it's time for me to go play ER doc again."</p><p>As he made to walk off he looked down to Elizabeth, who looked up to meet his eyes. They exchanged a warm smile and a shared look. Resisting the urge to reach out and touch her like he wanted to, he placed both hands in his pockets to ensure he didn't. Elizabeth looked longingly back at him and did something similar folding her hands together in her lap. Then with an almost imperceptible nod he left.</p><p>Susan watched the subtle interplay between them and a knowing smile formed on her face. Elizabeth's eyes which followed him as out as he left the cafeteria, returned to face a clearly delighted Susan.</p><p>"So I take it you've told him then?"</p><p>"Pardon?" Elizabeth stalled.</p><p>Susan smiling widely, shook her head. "Don't even! I just saw that lovey dovey look you both just gave each other!"</p><p>Elizabeth felt her cheeks warming as a blush took hold off her, and Susan slapped the table hard enough for the cups to shake, and gleefully exclaimed, "Yes!"</p><p>A few heads turned to look in their direction and Elizabeth glanced quickly about her. "Sshhh...keep your voice down," she said in a hushed tone, but then smiled and continued quietly, "Yes, I told him."</p><p>Susan adopted a conspiratorial voice. "And I think its a pretty safe bet to say he received the news in shall we say, a positive light?"</p><p>"Very positive," she confirmed.</p><p>"When?"</p><p>"As soon as he got back from his last trip to L.A," she confessed.</p><p>Susan's eyes widened in shock. "Elizabeth, that was over two weeks ago! I can't believe you didn't tell me!"</p><p>"Well, we're not hiding it...we just aren't exactly announcing it either," she said defensively.</p><p>"Clever," Susan nodded, leaning forward. "Hiding in plain sight, I like it."</p><p>"Something like that."</p><p>"Sill I wish you'd told me! He's been poking fun at me all this time about Chuck, and I could have been teasing him back! I feel cheated!"</p><p>"Well I'm sure you'll make up for it."</p><p>"Oh I will!"</p><p>"Don't be too mean to him though...I'm the one who'll have to live with it," Elizabeth grinned.</p><p>"So, has he moved in officially then?"</p><p>"Pretty much. As you enjoyed pointing out on several occasions, we were already all but living together. Gretel's moved in, so yeah, I guess its official."</p><p>"Who's Gretel?"</p><p>"His dog...his very large dog."</p><p>"Romano has a dog?!"</p><p>"Yes, a bouvier."</p><p>"I never thought of him as a dog person before."</p><p>"Oh, he adores that dog and now so does Ella. I actually feel relegated sometimes," she chortled. "You know a few years ago Gretel was ill, and he actually brought her into the O.R!"</p><p>"What?!"</p><p>Elizabeth nodded laughing, and Susan watched her friends face light up at the memory. "Yes, we actually operated on her together, can you believe that? Shirley and I had a good old giggle at his expense that day. Oh, and to top it off, my mother was in town visiting and met us outside of the O.R with an anaesthetized Gretel on the gurney! Robert made a complete arse of himself trying to be charming," she recollected fondly.</p><p>Susan shook her head at the crazy story. "I'm very pleased for the both of you, but I can't believe I didn't see it earlier! It certainly explains why he's not been rampaging around the ER, like we all thought he would be," Susan said. "Here was I, just thinking he was taking it all in his stride and it turns out he's actually been strutting around the whole time! On behalf of everyone in the E.R, I thank you!"</p><p>Elizabeth gave an over exaggerated shrug and smiled. "How is he doing?" she enquired honestly.</p><p>Susan nodded her head. "Good actually. I've recommended him some reading to help get him up to speed on the latest Emergency medicine and he's taken it on board."</p><p>Elizabeth smiled, happy to hear that. She knew he wasn't enamoured with working there, so to hear positive feedback made her feel a bit better. "You two seem to get on very well," she commented, and Susan nodded.</p><p>"Yeah, though to be fair we've always got along okay. I think we share the same weird sense of humour y'know? He's funny...when he's not busy being a total jackass that is...well actually, even then he can be pretty funny! As long as I'm not on the receiving end!"</p><p>"No, that is something you don't want to be on the end of," Elizabeth agreed, having experienced it herself first-hand. Ancient history now she thought fondly.</p><p>Susan watched Elizabeth drift off into space again, her features soft and a whimsical smile graced her lips.</p><p>Susan smiled knowingly and shook her head in bemusement. "Ohhh, you really have got it bad haven't you?"</p><p>"Hmmm?" Elizabeth grunted.</p><p>"So what's he like in bed?" she ambushed.</p><p>"What?!" Elizabeth said shocked.</p><p>"C'mon, give me some details..."</p><p>Elizabeth laughed. "No, I'm not doing details, Susan!"</p><p>"Oh come on...don't be stingy!"</p><p>"No!"</p><p>"Well, that's not fair. As someone instrumental in bringing this union together I demand answers...marks out of ten at least?"</p><p>Elizabeth folded her arms across her chest and grinned smugly. "Eleven."</p><p>"Whoa! Really?"</p><p>Elizabeth nodded. "Really."</p><p>Susan leaned in. "Oh now, you have to tell me more!"</p><p>Elizabeth glanced around quickly to check no-one was eavesdropping, then returned her attention to Susan. "No I don't...but since you were, as you say, 'instrumental' in bringing us together, then I guess its only fair you should know I'm enjoying the best sex I've ever had...and that is ALL you're getting!"</p><p>"Ah c'mon!"</p><p>888888888888888</p><p>Susan's eyes drifted upwards, looking over the head of her small patient who was attempting to follow her finger with their eyes. "Will you excuse me for just a minute," she said to the girls mother, and replaced her pen light back in her lab coat pocket. "I'll be right back." Quickly moving forward, she intercepted a clearly harried looking Robert before he made it to the admit desk.</p><p>He looked worried as hell and she sought to reassure him straight away, holding up her hands in a stop motion. Taking in a deep breath, she spoke in a calm voice. "She's okay. I literally just checked five minutes ago...Shirley said the surgery went well and they've already moved her into recovery."</p><p>He closed his eyes briefly and offered up his silent thanks. "Really?"</p><p>She nodded and smiled. "Really."</p><p>He ran a hand over his face and let out a relieved breath.</p><p>Susan motioned towards his shoulder and extended her hand. "Here, give me your bag and I'll stash it for you."</p><p>Robert nodded gratefully and passed her his heavy travel holdall. The morning had been going well and he'd gone out running after his meeting with Doctor Symmons, to mull a few things over in his head. That serenity had lasted until he got back to his sister's house only to discover several missed calls from Shirley and Susan. Upon checking his voice messages, Tess had watched him go pale as he'd learned Elizabeth had been taken into surgery. Last night when he'd spoken to her, she'd complained of a stomach ache, blaming it on something she must have eaten. He'd made another joke about her cooking skills which hadn't gone over too well with her, and she'd shortened the length of the telephone call dramatically. He'd felt bad enough already, but then he learned she'd actually doubled over in pain that morning in the scrub room. Fortunately, Anspaugh had been present and not some idiot resident, as he'd quickly deduced acute appendicitis and rushed her into surgery himself. Robert had made a few frantic calls and managed to get himself transferred onto an earlier flight while Tess threw his gear together, then drove him to the airport. The three and half hour flight had been the longest three and a half hours of his life.</p><p>He sprinted off for the stairs, figuring it would be quicker than waiting for the elevator and burst onto the fourth floor, heading straight for Recovery. There he found Donald Anspaugh and Shirley checking over a still unconscious Elizabeth.</p><p>Donald looked up as he entered, clearly surprised by his sudden appearance. "Robert, what are you doing here? I thought you weren't due back until Friday?"</p><p>Robert, focusing only on Elizabeth, ignored him and went straight to the bed, taking Elizabeth's hand into his. It felt reassuringly warm in his and his eyes quickly swept over the rest of her "You went in laproscopic?"</p><p>Donald nodded. "Yes, we got to it before it ruptured...how did you know?" he asked, his initial look of surprise now changing to one of confusion.</p><p>"I called him," Shirley said, and shifted her eyes to Robert. "I knew you'd want to know."</p><p>Robert's eyes drifted up to meet hers and he nodded gratefully. Donald registered the coded look and with Robert's obvious concern, and sudden appearance, began to finally put two and two together. He placed a comforting hand on Robert's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze. "She's going to be just fine, Robert. I'll, err...I'll leave you to it."</p><p>Robert nodded briefly then returned his gaze to Elizabeth's face. She looked pale but peaceful and he reached out a hand to caress her cheek before lowering his mouth to press a gentle kiss there, then moved slightly again and whispered against her ear, "I'm here, Lizzie."</p><p>When he brought his head back up he found Shirley watching him keenly. "How did you know?" he asked.</p><p>Shirley actually made a derisive scoffing noise to demonstrate what a stupid question she thought that was, then reached inside of her pocket and produced a carefully folded up piece of paper. "I was going to keep this for leverage, but under the circumstances...here, I think maybe, its one for the fridge?"</p><p>Roberts eyes narrowed with curiosity and he accepted the paper from her. Carefully unfolding it he broke into a small grin as he recognised Ella's artistic sketching. It was a drawing of her playing with Gretel while two other figures, dressed in what he supposed were blue scrubs, stood holding hands in front of a big house. The taller figure had lots of wavy red hair whilst the slightly smaller one, had none.</p><p>Unable to hide her smirk Shirley leaned forward, pointing a finger. "That's Wobbuh," she said in a very convincing impression of Ella. "Wobbuh lives with Ella and mommy and now Gwetel does too."</p><p>Robert actually laughed. "That kid keeps ratting me out," he said, shaking his head. "How did you get this?"</p><p>"I watched Ella for a few minutes last week when Doctor Corday got a last minute call," she explained. "Besides being a talented artist she's quite the chatterbox isn't she?"</p><p>He agreed, nodding. "She certainly is...so, tell me then Shirley, 'cause I'm really curious now...if you knew about us," he said, waving the drawing at her, "How come Anspaugh was so surprised to see me here, just now?"</p><p>She shrugged nonchalantly, folded her arms and smiled warmly at him. "Because I'm pleased for the pair of you and it's nice to see you both happy again, especially after what you've been through the last year...so I figured you deserved a break and decided not to say anything."</p><p>Robert nodded his gratefulness towards her. "Wow, Shirley that's very uncharacteristically noble of you...that must have half killed you?"</p><p>She nodded agreement and laughed. "You have no idea."</p><p>He grinned. "Speaking off Ella...do you know where she is? She up in day-care or with Kris?"</p><p>"She's up in day-care. I already explained to them about Doctor Corday and they know that you're on your way in."</p><p>He nodded his thanks again and looked back at Elizabeth.</p><p>Shirley followed his eyes. "She's out for another half hour at least I'd say."</p><p>Robert nodded and squeezed Elizabeth's hand. "Okay. Guess I'll go upstairs and collect our budding Frida Kahlo then, before you wake up."</p><p>He walked into day-care and spotted Martha the day-care manager, who immediately asked him how Elizabeth was doing. He updated her on her status and explained she'd probably be able to go home tomorrow. Martha nodded clearly relieved. Ella spotted him talking, her small face lighting up with obvious surprise to see him. She waved excitedly, then bounded over towards them with her arms held up. "Wobbuh!"</p><p>"Hey Ella," he said lowering himself to scoop her up and she planted a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her and gave her one back.</p><p>"Want to go home?" he asked and she nodded.</p><p>"Okay, before we do, I have to go check on mommy. She's got a tummy ache so she's going to stay here tonight to make her feel better."</p><p>Ella nodded, taking him at his word and he took her back down to the fourth floor. With her small hand in his he wound his way back to Recovery looking for Shirley. She spotted him first and came up from behind him.</p><p>"She's awake, but still a little groggy," she informed him before he could even ask.</p><p>He nodded. "Scary groggy or snoozy groggy?" he asked glancing down at Ella.</p><p>Shirley followed his eyes and smiled. "Maybe five more minutes?" she said and stretched out her hand towards Ella. "Hey Ella, would you like to draw me another picture?"</p><p>Ella nodded emphatically and he handed her over to Shirley with a grateful smile, then turned and pushed open the doors to the Recovery room. He walked over and pulled the stool closer to Elizabeth's bed, sitting down beside her. He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.</p><p>"Lizzie? It's Robert. Can you hear me?"</p><p>She tilted her head, peering at him with slightly glazed eyes, but the slight tug at the corners of her mouth in an attempted smile, made his own curl into one. He squeezed her hand gently again.</p><p>"Rohberr," she slurred.</p><p>"Hello beautiful."</p><p>"You really here?"</p><p>He reached out to touch her face. "I'm really here. How are you feeling?"</p><p>"How you here?" she asked, still sounding a little loopy to his ear and he smiled.</p><p>"The magic of flight."</p><p>"I love flight," she mumbled. "Flights are lovely. And you're lovely...I love you Robert."</p><p>He shook his head amused at her drug fuddled ramble. "I'm gonna let the fact you had to be in a drug induced state to actually tell me that slide for now," he grinned. "But you should know...I love you too."</p><p>She smiled up at him and reached out a hand that he caught. Her hand moved to his face and started patting at his cheeks. "Dimples...you're cute."</p><p>"And you're beautiful."</p><p>She made a scoffing noise and flailed her hand wildly in the air. "Don't feel beautiful," she croaked. "Look state of me."</p><p>He caught her hand again and smiled warmly, his eyes bright and full of love even in the darkened room. "Oh, Lizzie trust me on this...you've absolutely no idea of just how beautiful you look right now," he said, reaching for the cup of ice chips Shirley had left next to the bed.</p><p>He held it to her mouth and she swallowed a few, enjoying the relief it brought to her throat. She nodded a fraction to say she'd had enough and he placed it back down then returned his eyes to hers.</p><p>"You know, if you wanted me to come back early, all you had to do was ask. Elaborate ruses like this are not necessary...you scared the hell out of me Lizzie," he said, his voice both soft and serious.</p><p>"Sorry," she mouthed with a small smile.</p><p>"Don't be," he said and leaned down to kiss her gently. 'Just never do it again."</p><p>Feeling a little stronger she reached up a hand to cup his face and he leaned into the touch, his lips grazing the palm of her hand. "You're really here...the one face in recovery I wanted to see," she smiled.</p><p>"And who could blame you," he grinned. "I am devilishly handsome."</p><p>She giggled and then winced slightly. "Stop it, you'll make me tear my stitches."</p><p>"Rude," he grinned, bringing his own hand up to hold hers before kissing it. "Listen, Ella's outside with Shirley. Do you feel human enough to say goodnight to her if I bring her in?"</p><p>She smiled gratefully and nodded. "Yes please."</p><p>He started to rise, but looked questioningly at her as she tugged at his hand. "Robert."</p><p>"Yeah?"</p><p>She concentrated on his eyes and tried to convey how serious she was. "I may be a little woozy, but I meant it earlier...I do love you." From the wide smile that graced his face, she knew she'd succeeded.</p><p>88888888</p><p>He found Susan signing off on paperwork by the admit desk, and she looked up at him with an expectant eyebrow as he approached.</p><p>"She's okay. Textbook procedure and we can take her home tomorrow."</p><p>"Oh, that's great news," Susan said and gave Ella a little finger wave.</p><p>"Jerry, can you call a cab for me?" he asked.</p><p>The larger man nodded and reached for the phone, and Robert returned his attention back to Susan. "Lizzie rode the El this morning apparently," he explained. "Weee, are not doing that are we Ella?"</p><p>Ella looked up at him smiling and shook her head vociferously.</p><p>"Your bag is down here," Susan said, pointing down behind her.</p><p>"Great," he said, then looked around and lowered his voice. "Listen Susan, thanks for letting me know about Elizabeth."</p><p>"Hey, no problem," she smiled. "I'm just relieved she's okay, y'know...and how about you? How are are doing? You must be running on fumes by now."</p><p>He shrugged, not bothering to deny the fact he was exhausted. "Assuming you and Lizzie haven't been at my Laphroaig again, I'll be fine."</p><p>Ella tugged at his hand becoming bored and he lifted her up, sitting her on top of the desk. From her new vantage point she looked around, distracted for at least another minute. Unfortunately she also acted as a cutie homing beacon attracting the attention of Haleh, Chuny and Jing-Mei who wandered over to make a fuss of her.</p><p>"Hey Doctor Romano...are you branching out into child-care now?" Chuny grinned.</p><p>Robert rolled his eyes and ignored her. "Jerry, how long for that cab?"</p><p>"Shouldn't be long," he said grinning, clearly enjoying his bosses discomfort.</p><p>He watched Kovac approach next with Pratt, and acknowledged him with a nod, while completely ignoring Pratt. "Kovac… good to see you back."</p><p>"Thanks. How is Doctor Corday doing?" Luka asked. "We heard she had appendicitis?"</p><p>Robert looked around at all the genuinely inquisitive faces.</p><p>"Lizzie's fine and recovering nicely," he announced. "I'm taking this one home now and I'll be back for her mom tomorrow."</p><p>"You're...looking after her?" Pratt asked, astonished.</p><p>He was saved from answering as Jerry nudged his nose in the direction of the entrance and pointed out. "Your drivers here Doctor Romano."</p><p>Robert nodded his thanks. "Okay, we're out of here. You ready Ella?"</p><p>"Pony," she chanced with a big smile, and wanting to get out of there as fast as he could, he nodded and crouched down a little. She scrambled over and climbed onto his shoulders.</p><p>"You holding on?"</p><p>Ella nodded. "Can't hear you," he said squeezing her leg.</p><p>"Gidd up, Wobbuh," Ella said impatiently, rocking a little on his shoulders. He tightened his grip around her ankles as he looked upwards and grinned. "Corday women are sooo bossy."</p><p>Ella giggled down at him and everyone broke into smiles. Susan picked up his bag for him. "I'll walk you out...I could use some air." He nodded his thanks to her, very aware of the looks and smirks being exchanged as he turned to leave.</p><p>"Well I'll be damned," Haleh chuckled, with a disbelieving shake of the head as they watched him leave. "Now, that's a sight I never thought I'd see!"</p><p>"Awww!"</p><p>"I still don't get why he's got Corday's kid?" Pratt said, unable to keep the surprise out of his voice.</p><p>"He's obviously looking after her for Doctor Corday," Chuny said.</p><p>"But he was in L.A? You're telling me he jumped on a plane just to look after a friends kid for a night?"</p><p>"Oh, I don't think its too much of a leap to say they're more than just friends," Haleh said knowingly.</p><p>Pratt shook his head side to side. "Nah, no way. I don't believe it!"</p><p>"Why not? I think they're well suited," Chuny said.</p><p>"Because it's Romano!" he spluttered looking around at all of their bemused expressions. "Am I the only one struggling to see this? Come on people! A woman like Corday wouldn't give that tyrannicidal little shit the time of day?!"</p><p>"Maybe you can't see it because you're a shallow, selfish person, incapable of loving anyone other than yourself," Jing Mei said caustically and walked away not bothering to wait for a response.</p><p>Haleh and Chuny laughed out loud at his shocked expression and Jerry turned around to hide his smirk. "Ouch," he scoffed. "I think she's still pissed at you."</p><p>"Hey Pratt, maybe you should ask Romano for some relationship advice," Luka said with a cheeky grin. "He seems to be faring much better than you in that department."</p><p>88888888888</p><p>Four days later, Elizabeth half lay in her own bed listening to the constant tap, tap, tapping of the bouncing rain as it splashed against the window. She watched fascinated as raindrops impacted against the glass to form familiar rivulets. Rhythmically, they began their descent, snaking their crazy downwards dance, criss-crossing, meeting, twisting, turning, changing direction for no apparent reason. It was hypnotic, soothing and somehow, oddly comforting. Well it was from where she lay snuggled up against Roberts warm, firm body, also now so familiar and comforting to her. She moved her head to rest against his chest, and smiled when she felt the reciprocal weight of his chin atop her head as he shifted to accommodate her.</p><p>It was Sunday. A cold and wet Sunday morning to be precise and they were lazing in bed, neither of them keen to leave the warmth their combined body heat created beneath the duvet. By some miracle, Ella had made no noise to summon them, and so they half lay there. Her, mesmerized by the falling rain and Robert engrossed in his medical journal. She was snuggled up against him, enveloped by his left arm, his hand in hers, while she absently straightened and flexed each of his fingers. The very action was second nature and as familiar as the rain itself. Shifting slightly against him, she reflected over the last bizarre few days.</p><p>Feeling ill, she remembered thinking Robert's trip to LA couldn't have been worse timed for her. Ella, always unhappy when he was away, had started playing up to communicate her displeasure, and Gretel had done nothing but constantly pace between the window and the door looking for him. Diane had kindly offered to take her for a few days, but on reflection she'd had to turn her down fearing the tantrum that would certainly erupt from Ella, if she was to lose both of her favourite 'people' at the same time.</p><p>So she'd channelled all of her professional stoicism and soldiered on, feeling simply dreadful as she stepped up to the sink to start scrubbing for surgery...she remembered Donald entering the room and saying something to her, but she hadn't been able to process it as a wave of excruciating pain had hit her; and that's where it all went a little hazy. She remembered hands lifting her up and touching her, recalled voices sounding strangely discombobulated and flickering light fading to darkness.</p><p>Then she'd woken up feeling disorientated, confused and very sore. Lights were shone in her eyes and fruitlessly, she tried to bat them away. Then a touch here, a squeeze there, and voices began to sound familiar as the fog in her head began to clear. She picked out Robert's voice and felt his hand holding hers. Turning her head, her eyes had finally focused to see chocolate brown ones staring back at her with such concern, it momentarily caused her to feel guilt for worrying him. She'd attempted to smile, so pleased she was to see him there. Robert. Her Robert. Solid and dependable Robert who had jumped on the first available flight to get back to her and Ella. She cuddled against him appreciating the warmth of his body, feeling grateful to have him there. He'd organised everything so that she didn't have to lift a finger. Meals were cooked, housework was done. He'd rented videos galore for her to watch, bought her magazines. She hadn't had to ask for a single thing, it was just there...like him. Dependable, loving; constant.</p><p>She reflected back on how utterly miserable and alone she'd felt over a year ago as she went through the daily motions of life. She'd thought then her future looked rather bleak and lonely; felt it was her and Ella against the world. And then came along Robert in his own world of pain and she couldn't have imagined, not even for a moment, that nearly a year on she'd feel so loved and safe once again. Susan was right. They had indeed fixed each other, and she realised that the future now looked bright, because the future, their shared future, would be one spent together.</p><p>"Lizzie, you need something?"</p><p>"Hmmm?" She managed, breaking out of her reverie.</p><p>She felt him shift to get a better look at her. "Are you okay?"</p><p>"I'm fine," she smiled.</p><p>"You sure, 'cause you just let out one hell of a sigh."</p><p>"Did I?" she chortled, and squeezed his hand. "Well don't worry, it was a content sigh, because I have everything I need right here."</p><p>And she meant it.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>